Warframe: Spirits
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: This is a follow on to 'Eyes' set a week or so after that story ends. There is a massive conflict occurring. The group that calls itself 'The Rising' is about to learn what happens when good Tenno get pushed too far. This is a fanfiction. I own none of the rights to Warframe.
1. Chapter 1

**Fear**

Jo ran. There was nothing else he could do. It was useless and he knew it but he had to try and get away. He ran through ducts that were barely larger than he was and scuttled through drain that left bits of his supposedly indestructible jumpsuit hanging from sharp corners. His mother would be upset... He choked back a sob.

It had been a normal day. Jo had gone to class with his peers. He wasn't the best in his class, but he wasn't the worst either. But when he had arrived, the teacher had not called them to order. The man had simply sat at his desk. More than one student had been surprised at that, but one of the more adventurous sorts had stepped to the teacher and discovered the man was asleep. But far more than normal sleep. Some kind of barely visible energy had been wrapped around the man. The girl who had gone to him had tried to remove the wrapping and collapsed herself, similar energy wrapping around _her_. That had been enough for everyone else. The class had bolted. _That_ hadn't been covered by lessons. They had slapped alarms and none of the panels had _functioned_! But it was what came _next_ that was frankly _terrifying_.

One by one, the fleeing children disappeared. They tried to stay together, but each one simply vanished, a few between one step and another. Finally, there had only been two and the girl -Cara- had nodded and darted off another way as Jo had slid into the ducts. He knew she would try to find an operational alarm. Sound an alarm. It was what had to be done in the case of invasion, which was what this had to be. But... an odd one. Not Grineer in overwhelming loud numbers. Not Corpus. No robots anywhere. Not even _Infested_. The children had been well trained in recognizing the biological monstrosities. Not that they could _do_ much against any of those, but forewarned was forearmed. The colony had defenses. Several of the residents had weapons and knew how to use them. If they had warning it would-

Jo jerked up short as a sound came through the ducts. An anguished scream of terror and pain from a familiar voice. Cara. It cut off abruptly.

"No." The boy said softly as he started off through a smaller duct. This one was tiny, barely large enough for his seven year old frame and he could barely fit even as... He jerked as something grabbed at his leg, shaking free of whatever it was and slid further into the duct. He stared back at ...the odd looking armored hand that was sweeping around, seeking him. He made himself as small as he could and bit his lip to keep from crying out. He slid further, but then the duct narrowed and he couldn't go any further. The hand vanished.

"Boy." The male voice was...wrong. He didn't know how or why. But it was wrong. "We won't hurt you. Come out of there." He did not reply, simply scrunched himself up tighter. "Come on, kid. We don't want to hurt you. No one is dead yet. A few injuries but nothing major. Come on. Don't make us tear the wall apart to get you out."

Something slammed the duct near Jo, but he didn't move. He braced himself in it and the voice outside sighed. He jerked again as a piece of the wall bent outward and then he was pushing further into the too small vent as something dropped into the vent beside him. It... It wasn't anything he knew. It was round and covered in veins. He stared at it as it started to glow. He didn't even have time to scream as it burst, covering him in foul smelling green gunk. But... he went limp. He tried to struggle. Tried to fight. Nothing was working! He was floating on a sea of lethargy as the wall of the duct was torn out with a horrendous screech. Vicious clawed fingers reached for him and he quailed inside, but the hands were gentle as they pulled him out.

A figure from nightmare had him. The form wasn't human! It was...vaguely female looking? Sort of. It looked... He wasn't sure _what_ it looked like. Maybe a flower? Maybe something else? It pulled him out and set him on the ground, laying him out straight.

"Dumb kid." The male voice sounded sad. He tried to look for the source but he couldn't move at all as the female form knelt down, the scary looking hands gentle as they checked his injuries. "Running like that."

"The unknown is always frightening, Shaun." The female voice was older, sadder. Maternal. He felt... something odd and he was floating again. "He is reacting to the toxin. I thought I moderated it enough. Damn. We need to get him to Gillie. Now."

"The others are being shifted as we speak. We don't have a lot of time." The one called Shaun said as Jo was lifted into the air. Arms that were oddly gentle for being made of metal were cradling him gently. "See what you can do. This is the last of them. We need to get to the...portal... Oh no."

The voice trailed off and Jo felt the arms holding him tense. He couldn't move. He was tired. So tired.

"How many?" The female voice said tightly.

"Three. Excalibur, Banshee, Valkyr." The male replied just as tightly. "Nikis isn't with them. Still..."

"We cannot fight them. They are _dupes_ , not enemies!" Jo was falling asleep. He tried with all his strength to stay awake, but he was only seven years old.

"Are they?" The male asked. "We _did_ provoke them, even if we did not mean to. We killed their clan leader even though that was not our plan. Get the boy to Gillie. I will draw them away."

"Shaun..." The female sounded nearly in tears.

"Go." The other snapped. "The boy is fading. _Go_ , Diana. I... I need to do this."

Then Jo knew no more.

* * *

The Saryn ran through the tunnels that the humans had called home, her heart in tatters. Behind her, she knew her brother would be making his stand. Right on time, she heard his Braton open fire. Three distinct weapon sounds answered her brother's defiance and she wept inside. Shaun was good, no question. But three to one and all three of those _furious_?

The boy slept in her arms. He wasn't fading now. She had managed to neutralize her toxin. She had only intended it to sedate, but Saryn toxins were very potent. He only had a little time before her palliative wore off and his vital functions were suppressed to the point of death. She had wrapped her Izvara syandana around him to try and keep him warm. They were a _long_ way from the rendezvous point, the boy had managed to flee quite a distance from where the rest of her group were preparing the rest of the humans for transport to their new lives.

She was torn about this. She was Tenno. She served. It was what she was, what she was _for_. She had been raised and trained for service as a Warrior Tenno. But then, she had been selected for another position. Very few Tenno had been selected for that position ad she had been justifiably proud of her ability. Then it had all gone wrong. She didn't know what had happened or why, but Orokin had fallen. Her devotion to her cause, to the ones she had been sworn to protect, hadn't been enough. Her duty... She had failed her duty. The one she had sworn to die protecting had been disappeared one day. No sign of a struggle, no word. Just silence. No one had said anything, she was hardly the only one whose charge had vanished such. So, she had sworn to serve an Executor and done so with honor. It wasn't her fault that he had fallen. She knew this. She had fought so hard. But she had still failed.

She had fought during the Collapse, it was what she was. What she was for. But... her cause was lost. Diana hadn't really expected to wake from cryosleep. To be woken by the last Executor was... unexpected to say the least. Diana had never really known the one who called herself Gilliananhorisa. Diana had seen the Executor, of course, but she had never been one to mingle. The Executor had been kind and gentle, had worked to ease Diana into the dark and forbidding world that they now inhabited.

Diana had done a lot of things as a guardian of the Council of Executors that had _bothered_ her. Gillie was a good one though. She listened. She listened to and talked to her subordinates. Not all of the servants that Gillie had found were...

"Freeze!" A harsh female voice came from nowhere. Diana did as instructed. She recognized the voice. Something stung her leg and a cloud of energy settled over her. "They are here."

"Damn." Diana peered forward and her guts turned to ice as she saw two warframes in the area ahead. A Vauban and a Trinity. It had been a cleared spot in the tunnels, some kind of meeting area. It had been designated for the group to bring their new recruits to be marshaled for transport to their new lives. Better to call it that than the truth. Diana did not like this. At all. But it was needed. The demons had to be stopped. "Only two?" She whispered.

"That I have seen." Viveka's harsh voice came back from wherever the Ivara warframe was concealed. "Probably more."

"The others?" Diana looked, but she couldn't see any of the group's servants or any humans lying on the ground.

"I think they got away." Viveka replied. "Run. Now."

"Viveka... I can't." Diana said sadly. "This boy is dying."

"He is human. Unimportant in the grand scheme of things." Viveka retorted. "We need to stop the demons and getting _killed_ won't stop them. Leave him and get to your ship." Her tone gentled a bit. "They will tend him. You know that. You need to go. He is not important."

"He is a living sentient being that I _hurt_." Diana snapped. She slumped a bit and laid the boy on the deck. "Not that you would understand such."

"I understand that if we don't get out of here _right now_ , we are _dead_." Viveka replied without heat. She wasn't stupid. She was just driven. Being touched by the demons had done something to her. Gillie tried to help, everyone did. But... Diana feared for her sister. "Come on." An invisible hand grasped hers and led her off.

Diana stared at the boy who lay on the ground and then resolutely turned her back. She did no one any good if she died here. Then she felt her guts turn to ice again as the lights flickered.

 _You cannot run from your past._

"No..." Diana swallowed hard as she felt Viveka's hand tense. "Viveka. Run. Now."

"I am not leaving you to him." Viveka's retort was calm. Diana sighed. Arguing with the fanatic was kind of like arguing with a piece of space rock. It didn't work very well. "I can hide you."

"Take it slow." Diana said as a barely audible snap sounded and energy surrounded her.

 _Your crimes against Phorid will not be forgotten._

"What?" Diana asked softly. "Why the hell is he coming after me for an _Infested_?" She hadn't ever faced the kinslayer. She hadn't been awake that long. But she had gone after Phorid with a cell of Tenno, it had been a tough fight, especially since most of her equipment had been lost or damaged in the time she had slept.

"Shh!" Viveka hissed sharply. Both Tenno in the distance were approaching now. And yes, both wore the symbol of Karl's Shadow, the clan whose leader their group had inadvertently slain.

"Viveka! Get out of here." Diana said as the Trinity paused and knelt by the unconscious boy. "They know we are here!" The Vauban had a Some Prime in hand and his aim swept everywhere.

 _Your sentence is death!_

Stalker appeared in a flash of black smoke and Diana charged. She wasn't the fastest or the strongest of the group. She couldn't really call it a clan. It wasn't one. They were all sworn to the Executor, so... She threw a set of Spores and had the satisfaction of... wait a moment! Why was Stalker suddenly glowing? Where had that sword come from? He used a scythe. Didn't he?

Diana threw herself to the side and the massive sword tore through where she had been, missing her warframe by millimeters. No, pieces of fabric fell, cut clean by the energy that surrounded the huge sword. Her Lacera tore through the air, the chain an extension of her will as she tangled his arm with the chain and pulled. She used the leverage to close the distance. She was inside his guard and struck deep with the scissor blade. But he was glowing again! Her blade was pushed out and she was flung backwards. Agony roared through her leg as she tried to roll away from her much stronger opponent.

She jerked backwards, her weapon held to guard as Stalker turned to face her. His armor...wasn't as it had been described to her. It looked different. Oddly alive, but not. Then her gut went cold again!

The other two Tenno were watching. Just _watching_ as she was mercilessly battered back and then back again!

"You... call... yourselves _Tenno_?" Diana gasped between strikes. "You _leave_ me to him?"

"Why _not_?" The Vauban asked coldly. "You would do the same for us. Murderer." The scorn in his words cut Diana to the quick.

Stalker did not pause in his battering assault. Diana was forced back and back again, his attacks hitting like a battering ram. Her fewer responses were batted aside as inconsequential. It could only end one way. Finally, she missed a block and the huge sword struck far swifter than she imagined such a massive chunk of metal could. The energy was... cold, but hot as it bit deep into her side and Diana fell. She stared up at the red and black armored form as it raised the sword in a two handed grip over its head.

She gasped as... _something_ got between her and the falling sword. Her vision was going dark now. But she saw... a golden bladed staff parrying the red sword.

Was that... a transparent white Rhino holding it? No. Couldn't be. She was... It was...

* * *

"Ric..." Alicia's voice was hushed as Stalker was beaten back. "What do you see?"

"I don't know." Ric customary good humor had deserted him as Stalker was beaten back. _By an Orthos Prime that hovered in midair!_ No one was wielding it! Stalker struck at where the wielder had to be and hit nothing but air. The return strike cut _deep_. "Do you believe in ghosts?"

"No." Alicia said firmly. "Ghosts are folklore. Human mythology. I have seen shades, but...that isn't a shade."

"No." Ric shook his head as Stalker fell and lay still. The kinslayer's body vanished as always. "Ah..." The Orthos Prime spun as if the wielder was cleaning it of gore. Then it hovered oddly. It took a moment to realize... it was saluting Ric and Alicia. Then it vanished! "What the hell?"

"Good question." Alicia shook her head as she looked at the fallen Saryn. " _Very_ good question. Well, one less." She paused and her hand snapped up to intercept something that flew toward her. An arrow! She had _caught_ it! Ric stared. She had caught an arrow made of _energy_! How the hell? She flipped her hand and it vanished. "Well, well, well, Tenno Viveka..."

Ric threw a Bastille down but wherever the Ivara was, she was outside it's radius.

"I can kill you right now." The hidden Ivara said coldly.

"Go right ahead." Alicia replied, _just_ as coldly. "I will come back. Wherever you run, wherever you _hide_ , we _will_ find you. We _will_ have vengeance!" Her Bolto pistol was in hand and aimed. At the fallen Saryn.

"So you are no better than Stalker?" Viveka snapped. "And you call _us_ murderers?"

"Slight difference, fanatic. _We_ don't use _bombs_." Alicia did not take her eyes from the fallen Saryn but Ric was quartering the area with his Soma Prime. " _You_ killed Karl because you _wanted_ to. We _will_ kill you because you killed our friend."

" _He_ wasn't the target!" Viveka nearly screamed. "He was... in the way."

"So?" Ric demanded. "That makes it all better, ya evil witch?" He shook his head. "Nice invisibility." Then he dropped Bastille again and Viveka screamed in rage as she appeared, hanging in midair. "Oops. You blew it." He aimed his Ballistica, but a new voice sounded in the tunnel.

"Ric. Stop." Another warframe strode into view. Another Trinity, but this one was _very_ different. Her armor looked far thinner for one thing. For another, instead of Alicia's Meridian helmet, this one's head was nearly bare and had an odd circle thing hovering behind it. Her skirt was tighter, thinner, but more ornate. The long ornate staff she held was _glowing_. "This isn't right."

"Janna!" Alicia and Ric both snapped. "You shouldn't be here."

"Janna?" Viveka said weakly from where she hung. "No! _Demon lover_!" She started to struggle.

"Demon?" Janna asked mildly. "More than a _bit_ of the pot and the kettle in that one, Tenno Viveka." She knelt by the fallen Saryn and shook her head as she looked at Ric and Alicia. "The boy is sick. He needs help. This one..." She touched Diana's chest and energy flared from her fingers.

"Leave her _alone_!" Vivieka snarled from where she hung, thrashing impotently.

"She is dying, Tenno Viveka." Janna said sadly. "The kinslayer's blade bit deep. But I will not let her go without a fight. _I_ do not kill kin." Her hand was suddenly glowing and the Saryn was bathed in red-gold energy.

"LEAVE HER _ALONE_!" Viveka screamed as she broke free of the Bastille. Her hand raised, her Artemis bow flaring to life in it.

"You do _not_ want to do that." Janna said mildly as Ric and Alicia both moved to shield her physically. "Please don't."

"Shut up, demon lover!" The Ivara aimed. "You have _nothing_..."

"Wasn't talking to _you_."

The roar of a Magnus pistol was loud in the tunnel.


	2. Chapter 2

**Rewards**

For a moment, no one moved. Then Viveka stared down at her left hand. Or... where her left hand _had been_. Now it was the smoking stump of a _wrist_. A mangled piece of armor that had been her warframe's hand lay on the floor nearby. She stared to the side where a pitch black Nekros stepped out of a shadow, a pair of Magnus pistols held in a negligent looking grip. But only a complete idiot with a death wish assumed that Nikis was not ready and willing to kill. A thin wisp of smoke was vanishing from the pistol in his left hand.

"Been looking for _you_." Nikis said quietly. "You and Sun got a _date_ , girl." The temperature seemed to plummet from the sheer malevolence in his nearly gleeful voice. "You stood him up long enough."

"I _won't_ -!" Whatever else Viveka was going to say was cut off as Nikis' _right_ hand pistol roared. She screamed as _her_ right hand went the way of her _left_! "I... won't..." She collapsed to her knees, her ruined arms cradled to her chest.

"Oh, yes you will." Nikis sounded calm. Almost gentle. But that made it _worse_ somehow.

"Grandmaster..." Janna begged. "Please?"

"I ain't gonna kill her." Nikis shrugged. "But she _would_ kill you and not lose a moment's sleep about it. She ain't the type." He stepped towards Viveka who spat at him. "Now, now, girl..." Nikis chided the maimed Ivara. "Don't be _stupid_. Sun asked me to bring you in _alive_. He didn't say _anything_ about _hale_." His pistols went to his sides and an evil looking scythe simply appeared in his hands. Janna was shaking her head in horror, but Nikis advanced on the stricken Tenno slowly. "Want to lose your legs? I promise I will cauterize them. _Eventually_."

The malice in the Nekros' voice skittered around the tunnel as if on claws.

"Grandmaster Nikis! Please!" Janna begged. "Mom wouldn't like that. You are better than that!"

"No, I ain't." Nikis replied as he reached Viveka who stared at him as a half dead snake might a mongoose. "I fake it well for her and a few others. But I ain't. And you _better_ remember that." He bent down to touch something to the Ivara who gave a cry and collapsed to lie still. Janna jerked, but Alicia and Ric both blocked her path. Nikis turned to scrutinize Janna who remained still. "They took every human in this colony except the boy."

"Yes." Janna bowed her head. "We cannot track them."

"They will show up again." Nikis shrugged. Then he bent down and hefted the Ivara warframe as if it weighed nothing. "Sun will want that one too." He nodded to the Saryn.

"No!" Janna threw herself over the fallen Saryn. "She didn't _do_ anything that we know of! You cannot-" She broke off as Alicia knelt beside her.

"She is one of them, Janna." The older Tenno said quietly. "She cannot be trusted. We cannot be sure to hold her. Sun _can_."

"He will hurt her." Janna protested.

"Duh." Nikis said with a snort. "It is what he _does_."

"This isn't right!" Janna protested as Alicia took hold of her and pulled her to her feet. Her voice had tears in it. "This isn't right!"

"What isn't right is that you are not supposed to be out of the dojo." Alicia said sternly. "You are not trained yet."

"Alicia..." Janna pleaded. "This... You would have let her die. Let Stalker kill her."

"Yes." The other Trinity sounded resigned. "And yes, I would have enjoyed watching it. They _started_ this, Janna. They killed Karl, hurt you and Iriana because they _could_." Ric just looked at Janna, his stance impassive.

"I thought we were better than them." Janna said weakly.

She slumped a bit as the others did not move. She walked to where the boy lay and gathered him up in gentle hands. Then she walked from the area, head bowed. Ric shook his head and followed her. Alicia sighed as she looked from the fallen Saryn to Nikis.

"She's got a lot to learn." Nikis sounded bored now.

"Nikis." Alicia said softly. "Did you see what happened?" The Nekros shook his head and Alicia shook hers. "Stalker had her." She nodded to the Saryn. "I... um... Neither Ric nor I would have done a thing. We didn't. Something _else_ did."

"Some _thing_?" Nikis queried at Alicia's odd tone.

"Yeah." Alicia actually shifted a bit as if uncomfortable. "An Orthos Prime appeared. It fought Stalker back. Killed him."

"And?" Nikis growled as if to make her talk faster.

"No one was _wielding_ it." Alicia said softly. The Nekros actually recoiled a step and Alicia nodded. "I have my recording. I... I cannot believe it. I _saw_ it and I cannot believe it."

"Show me." The Nekros commanded, his tone...odd. Alicia sent him a copy of the datapacket. He stood stock still for a moment and then grunted.

"That wasn't a shade, was it?" Alicia asked, half fearful. Nikis shook his head. "Aw crap."

"Yeah." Nikis sounded tired now. "Ask Ric not to talk about this. Don't tell anyone until I can sort through this. It... I don't know." He shook his head. "I ain't perfect and there is a lot I don' t remember."

"None of us are." Alicia said with a sigh. "Iriana will want news." She hefted her Bolto again, aimed sort of at the fallen Saryn. "This one?"

" _Whatever_ it was, it was protecting that one." Nikis said slowly. Alicia nodded. "Secure her. Fully. Sun will want to talk to that one too, but _this_ one..." He shook Viveka and a groan came from her. "Sun _really_ wants to talk to this one. She is that bitch's right hand."

"The Chroma got away." Alicia hefted the Saryn easily. "The one Iriana said was named 'Shaun'."

"Cathi Gata got a big piece of him, but yeah." Nikis shrugged. "We will get him."

"Nikis..." Alicia asked the Nekros. "Do _you_ believe in ghosts?" The Nekros snorted derisively and left. The Trinity shook her head and moved out herself. As she walked, her voice was small.

" _Karl_ used an Orthos Prime..."

* * *

An indeterminate time later

She was cold.

She was so cold. It was so cold, she couldn't think. She couldn't feel her fingers or toes. Her teeth had been chattering so long that it seemed that was all she was. Chattering. Cold. She was... It was... She jerked as something warm wrapped around her.

"Easy." The male voice was strong, kind. She liked the man immediately. "You are a mess, Diana."

"Cold..." The hurt female Tenno fought past her teeth chattering.

"Yeah." The voice sighed. "They put you in cryo."

"What?" Diana asked, confused. "Then... No. I wouldn't be awake."

"You are not." The male voice said soberly. "You are dying. I... know a bit about that. It wasn't your fault, sister. None of it was."

"Why?" Diana was crying now despite her best efforts. "Why is this happening? I was... I tried to serve. I tried to be true to the Code. I served. It was what I did. All I did. I..." Something gave her a squeeze and she managed to stem her tears.

"For every action, there is a _re_ action, Diana. The Executor you serve hurt a bunch of people, killed one that many admired." The man sounded pensive now. "He wasn't perfect by a long shot, but he tried. He tried very hard to do the right thing. Now? He is gone and his friends are angry." Another squeeze and she was comforted. "They are not listening to reason any more then the Rising is. This won't end well. For _anyone_."

"We didn't _mean_ to!" Diana was sobbing again and the arms held her as she cried. "No one was supposed to _die!_ It was... I..."

"Kidnapping Iriana would have made people angry when they realized." The other was calm, but sad. So sad. "But _killing_ Karl infuriated _everyone_. Nikis has always walked a razor edge of insanity and he feels a duty to his students. He always has. Killing like that, in such a cowardly manner, _really_ made him mad. Bad idea. Very bad idea." He sighed.

Diana tensed as the cold bit deeper into her. "What is happening?" She pleaded.

"They didn't treat your wounds before putting you into cryo. They _did_ remove your warframe. And they did more." Diana stiffened and the other sounded upset now. "You will have permanent damage to your body. This is cruel. Not warranted at all. More like an Orokin than a Tenno."

"Not all Orokin were evil." Diana protested.

"No." The other agreed. "But too many of them were. The end always justified the means and might always made right. Power and money were the be all and end all."

"I..." Diana slumped in the gentle grip that held her. "Yes. I know. But not all." She pleaded. " _Some_ tried to do the right thing!"

"And what did it usually get them, Diana?" The other was fading. Or Diana was.

"I..." Diana swallowed.

"Yeah." The other's voice was nearly gone. "It usually got them _dead_."

Then overwhelming pain slammed into her and she was screaming as she was pulled...

* * *

She jerked awake. Everything hurt. Her side, her left leg, her head. All of it hurt. She couldn't bite back a whimper of agony.

"What the _hell_?" An irate female voice sounded nearby. "What is _this_?" Red hot pokers slammed into Diana's skin and despite her skill, she could not stop a scream. It came out a croak. "Oh my _god_..

"This is..." A male voice sounded horrified. "She is..." He broke off as the torment continued.

"We need to warm her up first. Then treat the injuries." The female broke off and then continued. "Diana, is it? My name is Sheila and this is Zacharias. We are tending you. You are badly hurt and we are trying to help. Okay? Don't fight us. I know it hurts and it will. But we are going to help you."

What followed was torment piled on top of agony smothered by pain. Diana could do nothing but writhe as the pain reached epic proportions. But through it all, that kind female voice sounded. She took comfort from that. She wasn't alone. It came as a shock when the pain ended and she could lie still, panting.

"I am sorry." The female voice sounded abject. "I am so sorry, Tenno Diana. Easy." Diana felt odd things. Her right leg was numb. Her left leg was prickling. Pain suffused much of her left side from the armpit to the hip. But it was the odd feelings in her eyes that really, really bothered her. She couldn't define them. Something was rubbing her scalp, wiping sweat off as the woman spoke again. "Can you speak? My name is Sheila. I said it before, but you were a bit distracted."

"What happened?" Diana asked, amazed that her voice sounded so normal. She tried to open her eyes and she couldn't. "I can't see."

"I know." The one who called herself Sheila sounded upset now. "I am not entirely sure why. Hey!" She snapped as something -no! some _things!_ \- suddenly held Diana to the surface she was lying on tight enough to hurt. "She is not _capable_ of fighting, you jerk!"

"You do not know that." The cold male voice had to be a Tenno. From the tone? One of Karl's Shadow, the clan her own had angered. "For all you know, she is a _bomb_."

"It would have been detected, Aeron!" Sheila retorted.

"He cannot know that." Diana said reasonably. "I... I am not. I won't fight. I swear on my honor I won't fight."

"You _have_ no honor, Rising!" The male Tenno snapped.

"If you _hit_ her..." Sheila said into a sudden silence. "I _will_ report you to the Elders. She is a _prisoner_."

"She is a _terrorist_ who enjoys killing people who cannot _fight back_!" Aeron retorted.

"No, I don't." Diana said softly. Something grabbed her right hand and twisted. She bite back a scream as a finger broke, then two. The sound of a scuffle was loud as Diana fought to keep the pain at bay.

"STOP!" A familiar voice screamed as hubbub started. Diana had never met the woman, but Gillie had shown records of what had happened, including every mistake the Executor had made. They had been...extensive, those mistakes. And _expensive_. "Tiana! Get him _out_ of here!"

"Healer..." Diana said weakly. All the noise stopped. "I am sorry..."

"Sleep now." Healer Iriana's voice was flat as lethargy flowed through Diana's veins. She heard soft singing. A male voice? Familiar? She couldn't say. But it was pretty... So pretty...

* * *

Healer Iriana stared at the broken form on the table and then at the two warframes who stood by the door that Tiana had been dragging Aeron to.

"Out." Iriana kept her voice level by sheer force of will.

"Healer..." Tiana spoke softly, but firmly. "We need to keep a guard on her while she is out of cryo."

"You _really_ think she can run or fight in her condition?" Iriana demanded, not taking her eyes from the sleeping Tenno.

"What I think doesn't matter, Iriana." Tiana could not possibly as calm as she sounded. Not a chance. "We underestimated them before. We will not again."

"Fine." Iriana said with a scowl as she started working to set the three fingers that Aeron had broken "But not _him_."

"Cathi Gata will be in shortly." Tiana said with a nod. ""See if you can get her to talk, please?"

Iriana grimaced, but nodded. The Valkyr hadn't spoken to anyone since Karl had died. She and Karl had been close. Not intimate, but heading that way. Then he was gone and she was... It was hard to say what she was. But one thing was sure, she was no berserker despite the Valkyr warframe. No, she was ice cold in battle. That was actually scarier in some ways.

Iriana focused on her patient and after a moment, Tiana and Aeron left the room. Sheila stepped close, the MOA form not hiding her disquiet.

"You were right to send Zacharias for me. He couldn't have stopped Aeron and he would have tried. Probably gotten hurt in the process." Iriana said gently as the MOA started working on Diana's left leg. "So much anger."

"You have a right to it." Sheila said softly as her beam set on warming slowly worked its way up the sleeping Tenno's leg. "But _they_ are so scary now."

"I knew this would be bad." Iriana said heavily. "But _this_?" Sheila made noise of sadness mixed with apprehension and Iriana nodded. "We can save her arm. The internal organs will need help. The leg? No. We can try to regen it after the stump heals."

"And her eyes?" Sheila asked. Iriana bowed her head and Sheila gave a tiny sob. "I wouldn't have believed they could be so cruel."

"Her life is pretty much forfeit, Sheila." Iriana said heavily as she worked. "She was captured by people with a legitimate grievance and the authorization to seek her death. But you are right. This was far crueler than I would have thought this clan was capable of. This was anger talking, not honor."

"I have seen such before." Sheila said sadly. "But not from Tenno." Iriana looked at her and the violet MOA paused in her work for a moment. "We had some really bad cases through the Orphanage. I... The kids made me want to weep."

"I know." Iriana said softly. "Can you continue?"

"Yes, Healer." Sheila promised. "Can we do _anything_ for her eyes?"

"I don't know." Iriana looked away for a moment. "I have seen a lot of different forms of blindness. Usually in humans. But this?"

"This was intentional." Shelia said softly. "They took her out of her warframe and put her into the cryo pod without any protection. Not even a bodysuit!"

"They might have killed her with this." Iriana slumped a bit. "Thing it... it might have been a kinder fate that what awaits her." Sheila made a soft , scared noise and Iriana nodded. "I wonder if they intended that?" She pondered and then shook her head. "I don't know and won't ask."

"Could the Caretakers do something?" Sheila asked and then froze as Iriana winced. "Oh."

"I am not sure _why_ they are so angry." Iriana said after a moment. "It seems excessive. They knew Karl of course, and Jasmina was his friend. But this seems more... personal. They won't tell me why." She shook her head. "I can see them being this angry if I had _died_. But I didn't." She said sourly as she finalized work on the broken fingers. "And Janna is a treasure."

"Yes, she is." Sheila's voice was warm now, but then again, she had known Janna before and the two had struck their friendship right back up. "But um... Do I want to know how she is going to be punished for leaving?"

"No one actually _ordered_ her to stay put." Iriana said mildly and Sheila seemed to wince. "Yeah. We will need to be very careful and very strict for a bit. She is still feeling out her limits."

"I like how she had recovered. Changed, I mean." The MOA corrected herself. "She was nice, but always bit timid. Now?"

"She had cause." Iriana sighed in sad memory. Janna's birth parents had been killed by the same woman who had tried to enslave the Healer. "But we will need to set firm limits so she knows how far she can go."

"Going into a live combat zone with only a _staff_ was too far." Sheila said with a gulp. Iriana nodded. "So... what punishment?"

"Oh..." Iriana smiled evilly. "The Warlord found something right up her alley."

* * *

Deep in the dojo

 _GAH!_

Janna surfaced yet again and coughed as she tossed yet _another_ water filter to the deck. The Mag warframe that was supervising her punishment handed her a replacement filter and Janna sighed as she made ready to swim down to the next one. Karen did not comment, thank god. It was bad enough to be doing this. To do it in such skimpy attire? An ancient something called a 'one piece swimsuit'? The water was _cold!_

"Only five more in this pool..." Janna said weakly as she took deep breaths. Karen nodded. "Then?"

"Deck two." The other female Tenno said firmly.

"How many on _that_ deck?" Janna asked, dreading the answer.

"Nine separate Koi ponds, six filters per pond. Then twelve more decks. It's been years since they were all replaced." Karen replied. " _Centuries_ in some cases. Get to it." She waved and Janna sighed but took a deep breath and dove with the new filter. The fish, disturbed, darted close to try her taste and she bit back a snarl. She needed the air. It didn't hurt, it was just _annoying_. She dove to the filter and started removing the old one to replace it, trying to ignore the fish.

 _And I used to think Koi were_ **pretty** _..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Blind**

When Diana woke again, things were different. She was lying on something comfortable. She was not restrained. She was _warm_. She was... She eased her fingers and toes slowly, but nothing happened. Er, _most_ of her fingers and toes. Her right toes were numb. She opened her eyes, but...they wouldn't. A throat cleared nearby.

"Um... hello?" Diana asked as she tried not to squirm. She felt very odd. Her right leg was numb, but the rest of her felt okay. Except her eyes. Those felt _wrong_.

"Hello." The voice was calm and controlled. Male. Not anyone Diana knew. "You are in trouble, Tenno Diana."

"I figured." Diana said sadly. "What we did... there would be repercussions. It... We didn't _intend_ Karl's death."

"So Viveka said." The other said calmly. Diana froze and the voice made a noise of affirmation. "My name is Sun." Terror flared through Diana at that soft name and who could _blame_ her? The Interrogator known as Sun was a boogeyman to many Tenno. The few who had dealt with him professionally and emerged unscathed refused to speak of what he did. But the stories were scary enough.

"I...see..." Diana swallowed hard and then forced herself to relax. "I..."

"We have lot to talk about, Tenno Diana." The Interrogator said quietly. "But there is no need to be rude. You were woken less than a week ago."

"Yes." Dissembling was pointless. And potentially incredibly _painful_. She really didn't have anything to hide from him. "Shaun woke me, said I was needed. Gillie..." She broke off, fear rising. "I am sorry. I didn't _know!_ She told me. She was brutally honest about what she had done. How badly she had screwed up."

"Gilliananhorisa always _was_ brutally honest." Sun said mildly. Diana turned her head to where his voice came form in query and he made a noise she interpreted as amusement. "You think I didn't deal with Executors before the Collapse?"

"I... wouldn't know, Interrogator." Diana admitted. "My death is ordained then?"

"I don't know." The interrogator admitted. "That is future. Right now, focus _on_ the now. I have questions. You have answers."

"Whatever I know." Diana said quietly. She could feel a Tenno presence nearby come closer. The energy she could sense was bright, vivid. Not what she expected from an ancient boogeyman. "Wouldn't it be easier to scare me into talking if I could see?"

"You can't." Sun's voice held something now. Sorrow? Regret? Whatever it was, it faded.

"I give you my word I won't resist." Diana said quickly as a hand touched hers. "I swear it. I _do_ know what honor is! I swear!"

"So Viveka said." The hand was holding hers now. Why was it gentle? He didn't have to be and by all accounts _wasn't_.. "She was quite informative."

"You um..." Diana forced her word past her dry tongue. "Do with me what you will, Interrogator. I just... I wish to see my accusers before I die. I serve one who wronged them. They deserve the change to look me in the eye as I die."

"Tenno Diana..." The hand clenched hers. "You don't understand. Securing a Tenno is _hard_. Securing a Warrior Tenno who is _linked_ to an Executor is well nigh _impossible_. Karl's Shadow secured you the only way they _could_."

"I...they put me in cryo." Diana remembered. "I was cold. But... I am better now. Right?"

"Yes and no." The Interrogator replied evenly. "You are alive and mostly whole. But there is damage. You need to know and someone else wishes to speak to you. Janna?" The hand holding Diana's gave another squeeze and Diana felt faint.

"Hello Diana." The soft, sad female voice had to be the young human who had been changed by what Gillie had done to Iriana. No one had expected her to change into a _Tenno_. Certainly not _Gillie!_

"You... You shouldn't be here, Janna." Diana said quickly. "He has to hurt me. He has to interrogate me."

"Interrogate you? Yes." Sun replied. "Hurt you? No. You see... I knew Executor Graj. He worked with Tenno Intelligence occasionally." Diana went completely still at that and Sun made a noise of affirmation. That had been _her_ Executor, the one she had been assigned to. He hadn't survived the Collapse. Diana had been there when he died, his whole detail overwhelmed by a Sentient attack. She had fought hard, but it hadn't been enough. The only survivor of his retinue, she had stumbled her way from the battlefield and found a cryo pod by sheer luck. "He was _not_ a trusting soul. He programmed each and every one of his servants with command words."

"I... yes." Diana said slowly. "He was... Paranoia was his life. To work with him, everyone had to be ready to prove their loyalty. Not enslavement, but... degrading nonetheless."

"Oh, many _would_ call it slavery." Janna had a snap on her voice as the hand holding Diana's gave another squeeze. "Point is, the Interrogator has the command codes."

"Oh." Diana chuckled a bit without mirth. "So, no. No need for torture. I just spill my guts. Then I am executed."

"Over _my_ _**dead**_ _**BODY**_!" Diana felt fear rise as Janna actually snarled that. " _You_ haven't _done_ anything wrong except follow orders! _You_ didn't _hurt_ anyone except that boy and _he_ is recovering!"

"I am glad." Diana said as he turned her head to face Janna. "Why can't I see? It..." She paused as the hand gave hers another squeeze. "Tenno Janna?"

"They burned out your optic nerves. Desensitized the parts of your brain that channel sight." Janna said in a monotone. Diana felt her guts clench and the youngest Tenno warrior continued. "It is irreversible."

"I..." Diana slumped a bit and then she surprised herself with a dry chuckle. "I was going to say 'I see', but that doesn't work well, does it?" She felt Janna's shock through the hand that was holding hers. Diana curled her fingers around the younger Tenno's. She heaved a sigh, but then nodded. "I understand."

"Well, I _don't!_ " Janna nearly screamed. She gave an 'eep' as Diana's hand clenched around hers gently.

"Janna. Be calm." Diana said sternly. "I am what I am. Warrior Tenno are hard to confine as the Interrogator said. This is... a bit extreme. But we _earned_ that clan's ire. What happened wasn't intended. The demons had to be stopped, but..."

"Stop calling them that." Janna snapped. "They are not demons."

"Janna, I _saw_ them." The supine Tenno said slowly. "They were ravening beasts. Nothing more. The fact that they can subvert people so easily is _terrifying_."

"So much the better to do it slow and methodical." Janna said with a growl. "Like the Executors." Diana bristled, but then slumped.

"I...Yes." Diana allowed. "The Executors did a number of things that I personally find morally repugnant. But they were the Law."

"No." Sun interjected. "They were _above_ the Law." Diana turned her unseeing eyes to his voice and he had a frown in his voice now. "Do you know the difference?"

"I am not sure I understand." Diana admitted. "They were the Law. They were the ultimate arbiters."

"That is what they _said_." Sun's voice, impossibly, turned gentle. "That is not always what they _did_. Do you remember?"

"I... don't think so." Diana said after a moment's thought. Like all Tenno, she had lost memory to the long cryosleep. "They did things that I disliked, but... Someone had to do it." A sigh came from the interrogator and Janna's hand squeezed Diana's again.

"May I try, Interrogator?" Janna asked diffidently. Some visual cue must have been passed because Janna spoke again. "Diana, what is Law?"

"Are we speaking scientifically or legally?" Diana asked with a grin. Janna's hand squeezed hers again as Janna muffled a chuckle. "I assume legally. Law is a set of rules that a particular country or community recognized as regulating the actions of its members." She recited carefully, smiling as she remembered properly. "It was enforced by..." She paused. "By..." She gritted here teeth, trying to remember. "I.."

"...By the imposition of penalties." Janna said gently. "Yes. That is Law. What is the purpose of Law?"

"Justice." Diana said quickly.

"No." Sun replied quietly. "The purpose of Law is _order_. Not _justice_. Some may use the Law to _seek_ justice, but that was never the sole purpose of the codes that were imposed."

"But..." Diana shook her head, confused. "That doesn't make sense."

"In some ways, no." Sun agreed. "Then again, how is _Tax_ _Law_ seeking _justice_?"

"Ah..." Diana shook her head. "Good point." She accepted. "So..." She slumped a bit. "I can see that argument. And yes, the Executors were above everyone but the Emperor. Power corrupts and they were no different, but the some of them tried to keep things under control."

"By locking up children and experimenting on them." Janna said flatly.

"Tenno Janna, I _saw_ the..." Diana broke off, not wanting to give offense.

"You can call them what they were." Janna was not angry. If anything, she was sad. "The survivors of the Zarimon Void Jump Accident. The children."

"Yes." Diana said heavily. "The children. I can see them in my mind still. They were uncontrollable. They lashed out at everything around them with raw Void Energy. Everyone who came close, got hurt or killed."

"Not everyone. Do you know why?" Janna asked. Diana stiffened and Janna continued. "Let me ask you this, Tenno Diana. If _you_ are hurting, in pain and people keep prodding you, treating you like an animal, doing things to you without so much as a 'by your leave', what would _you_ act like?" Diana was shaking her head and Janna sighed. "I am not here to convince you. All I am here to say is this: _I_ am not your enemy. I don't want to _be_ your enemy. This... horror of clan warfare must end. But I know not how."

"We have a start here." Sun spoke up and Diana turned her blind eyes to his voice. "Gilliananhorisa stepped over the line. Way over it. Turning humans into assassination weapons is a bad thing, Tenno Diana. Kidnapping Iriana would have been bad, but _killing_ Karl was a _serious_ mistake. He was the heart and soul of his clan. Without him?"

"They are falling." Janna said softly. "None of them would have done this to you, Diana before he died. Now? None seem to think it is wrong. Mom and I _do_ , but..." Diana gave her hand a squeeze.

"But you are young and they won't listen to you." Diana felt sorrow rise. "I am truly sorry. Interrogator, would my death stop this?"

"No." Sun said heavily. "Right now? I don't even think Gilliananhorisa's death would. But... later for that. Now? We talk." Diana swallowed hard at that and then nodded. "Janna." This was a command.

"Yes, Interrogator." Janna said quickly. Diana stilled as a kiss touched her forehead. She smiled at that as footsteps sounded. A door hissed and Diana tried to relax.

"V...Virtual?" Diana cursed her stuttering.

"There is no need." Sun sounded gentle now. "I won't hurt you." He promised.

"One question if I may?" Diana said quickly. Sun did not respond and she waited. Finally, a hand tapped hers and she took that as assent. "I can't feel my right leg."

"Iriana had to amputate it." Sun said quietly as armored hands eased her into a sitting position. "Your injury froze in the cryo. She is rather upset about that and your eyes."

"I see." Diana swallowed hard as something padded was put behind her, supporting her upright. "I am ready." Her voice didn't break this time. A hand patted hers.

"Very well, Tenno Diana." Sun said formally. "My name is Sun. My rank is Interrogator First Class."

"We have much to talk about."

* * *

Warlord's office

"Thank you for coming so quickly." Tiana said to the visitor who nodded to her. She had changed to robes instead of her warframe and even then, the Nyx warframe was visibly nervous. "Your safety is guaranteed, Officer Magda."

"Considering what happened the _last_ time one of us was here..." The Tenno policewoman said with a grunt. "I was surprised by your request."

"Karl... was the one who declared you unwelcome." Tiana said with a sigh. "Cathi Gata tried to get him to change his mind. She was wearing him down. She _did_ wear the rest of us down. Officer Killian might get some looks or comments, but no one will _shoot_ at him now." Then again, that cop _had_ entered the dojo under false pretenses and arrested a member of the clan. It had worked out fairly well in the end, but it had been close to blood being spilled.

"You and your clan have my condolences." The Nyx said softly. "Karl was a good Tenno. One of the best."

"That he was." Tiana agreed. "Even I think he was _crazy_ to consider _me_ a leader." Magda did not react and Tiana nodded. "We have two problems and they are related. You know what happened."

"Karl was killed." Magda replied evenly. "Iriana was taken along with a human. In the course of protecting the human from the Executor, Iriana inadvertently changed the girl into Tenno."

"Succinctly put." Tiana said with a nod. "From what we have been able to determine, Iriana was so focused on protecting Janna that she pulled the girl's vital energy to hers. They... merged a bit. The girl changed. Iriana did not take well what the Executor had her do."

"Do not anger the Healer." Magda spoke sotto voice and Tiana chuckled without humor.

"It's not a good idea, no." Tiana agreed. "And we _have_." Magda stilled and Tiana nodded again. "We captured two of the Rising. Tenno." Magda inhaled sharply and Tiana frowned. "Nikis took one to Interrogator Sun. Tenno Viveka, the one who kidnapped Iriana from where she was hidden along with Janna. The other was and is in our custody."

"I am surprised you haven't killed them." Magda said slowly.

"That is the problem." Tiana said heavily. "I think someone tried." Magda jerked and Tiana nodded. "The female Tenno known as Diana was injured. Her injuries were left untreated when she was put into cryo." Magda made a noise of consternation and Tiana nodded yet again. "What is worse is that someone blinded her and I cannot determine who."

"You...cannot...determine...?" Magda said slowly.

"It could have been _any_ of our personnel." Tiana would not meet the Nyx's faceplate with her eyes. "You know exactly how hard it is to secure a Tenno." She said to the cop who nodded. "We had to secure her and we didn't know if the Executor could see through her eyes. Iriana had a link of some kind that way, unbeknownst to everyone. I ordered the prisoner into cryo. That is on me. I expected her wounds to be treated. They were not and I _will_ punish that. Karl would not approve." She said sadly.

"And the blinding?" Magda asked.

"A _blindfold_ would have sufficed according to all the sources I have asked. Including Grandmasters Nikis and Sun." Tiana said sadly. "I need to know who did it. I can guess why, but I also need to know that for sure. The Elders gave us a great deal of latitude in our feud with the Rising, but this Tenno wasn't _part_ of what happened. She wasn't woken from cryo until _after_ Iriana came back with Janna. This was unwarranted and _cruel_. I _will_ press charges. Karl would want that."

"Are you sure you want me to investigate this, Warlord?" Magda asked.

"Yes." Tiana snapped and then she shook her head as Magda stiffened. "I apologize, Officer. This is stressful. Iriana and Janna are _both_ incensed by this. So am _I_. I didn't think this clan was capable of such. Silly that."

"Not silly." Magda said with a sigh. "You had a great example to live up to. Now he is gone and everyone is rocked back. The blindness, can it be healed?"

"No." Tiana slumped a bit. "Whoever did it knew what they were doing. So, that suggests a medic. But according to Iriana, all it would take is access to a medical database and a few minutes with a surgical probe. Hurting is always easier than healing."

"I see." Magda has a frown in her voice now. "Restrictions?"

"You will be escorted at all times." Tiana said flatly. "No offense, but we still guard secrets that must not get out."

"But the Caretakers are gone." Magda sounded a bit unsure about that and who could blame her? Having beings whose _job_ was handling Infested -without killing them!- living in a Tenno dojo had to be nerve wracking. Tiana jerked a nod. "I honestly don't know how I feel about that." The cop said after a moment.

"They are good people with a horrible job." Tiana kept her voice noncommittal.

"If I do find out who did this, I will have to report it." Magda said softly. Tiana nodded. "You are okay with that?"

"Whoever did this stained the clan's honor as a whole. Everyone seemed shocked, but..." Tiana shook her head. " _Someone_ did this. _Someone_ maimed this sister. Sure, she was -is- an enemy. But that was over the line."

"You may not like what I find." Magda warned.

"I like not knowing _less_." Tiana said simply.

"You said two reasons?" Magda asked. "This is bad. I can see that. I can see you want an outsider to do it. I can be an officious, empire building interloper, a role I play quite well, if I do say so myself. If _I_ do it, it will not undercut _your_ relationship with your clan."

"That _was_ part of my reasoning." Tiana said with the first smile she had shown since the cop had arrived.

"And you say you are not the leader type." Magda was smiling as well even though it could not be seen. "And?"

"Cathi Gata needs help."


	4. Chapter 4

**Comfort**

She wasn't being anti-social. Everyone knew that she was grieving. They gave her space. She appreciated that. She wasn't sure what to do now. Everything had been looking good, and now? It wasn't.

She knelt in the place that she had preferred before. Her robes were the same color as her environment. The Zen garden was all sand and smooth rocks. She needed the calm. She hadn't been sure at all when Karl had started pursuing her. She still wasn't entirely comfortable in this body. It had been remade as a tool for a monster in Orokin form after all and despite all of the enhancements being deactivated or removed, it still felt subtly wrong at times. She had retreated to this place to meditate, to try and seek clarity of thought. Karl had found her here and instead of pressing his case, had joined her in meditation. It had helped. They had discussed so many things, some important, some not. It had been quiet and calm. She had needed that. He had shown up several times to find her meditating here. It had taken her a bit to realize that he was still interested in her. That he was going to keep looking for an excuse to talk to her. To get to _know_ her. Not for any nefarious reason, but because he _liked_ her!

 **Some** _clarity of_ **thought** _, huh? Couldn't see the truth when it was all but slapping me in the face._ She thought wryly. She stiffened as she heard a response. No one she knew. _Did_ she? Male voice but...

 _You always were too hard on yourself. So was I._ She stared around, but there was no one there. There was no feel of another's mind nearby as there was with Tenno mental communication. So... The voice was so gentle. _You are not alone, Cathi._

 _Who is there?_ Cathi Gata asked, dumbfounded. There was no reply and she jerked as the door that led to the access hallway opened. She schooled her features into immobility. But then she got another surprise. The figure was not a member of the clan! But it _was_ a Tenno she knew.

"Hello, Cathi Gata." The Nyx that was the Tenno policewoman Magda said with a small bow. "May I still call you Cathi? I like to think we are friends." Cathi smiled and nodded. "Good. They say you won't speak. Well, _I_ told them you will when you are ready. You didn't swear an oath of silence, so you are just not ready yet." She paused. "You didn't swear an oath, did you?" Cathi shook her head and Magda sighed in relief. "Good. That would be a pain in the _butt_."

Cathi smiled wider at that. She liked Magda despite the unpleasant circumstances of their first meeting. She waved to the sand beside her and the Nyx nodded, stepping out to sink to her knees beside the robed Tenno. She did not leave footprints ion the sand. For a moment, neither made any motion and then Magda heaved a sigh.

"This is a mess." The cop complained. "The Rising screwed up big time when they killed Karl and tried to enslave Iriana and Janna. They have never exactly been _subtle_ , but _this_ was over the top even for the nutjobs." Cathi looked at the Nyx and nodded. That had bothered her a bit too. Then again, she knew the mindset better than most Tenno. "Your clan captured two of them." Cathi nodded again. "Nikis took one to Sun and the other was given to you to be secured. I am not sure why." Cathi shrugged and Magda snorted. "Yeah, if Nikis _or_ Sun told me to do something I wouldn't quibble _either_."

Cathi shook her head slowly. Angering the Grandmaster of the Dead _or_ the Grandmaster of Tenno Interrogators was not a good idea. _At all_. She looked at Magda, her face curious.

"Have you heard what happened?" Magda asked delicately. Cathi shook her head. She had been meditating since she had returned. "The clan put the prisoner into cryo without treating her wounds. The cold did more damage. So much damage that they had to amputate her right leg." Cathi stiffened and Magda nodded. "Yes. Iriana and Janna are both very upset. But that pales beside the other thing." Cathi was shaking her head in horror, but Magda continued. "Before they put her in cryo... someone blinded her. Permanently."

For a moment, the Nyx's words simply did not make sense. When they _did_ , Cathi was rocked to her core. She stared at the ground, horrified beyond all measure.

"What is worse is some of the responses of your clan mates." Magda said softly. Cathi jerked, staring at the cop who nodded. "They say... she deserved it." Cathi stiffened and then her face hardened. The Nyx saw her expression and raised both hands in a placating gesture. "Cathi! Think! They are still grieving for Karl the same as you are. They are angry, with reason. But..." She shook her head. "That is not something that I can see this clan doing."

Cathi had her doubts. Alicia and Aeron were both balls of rage, under control. Mostly. Will was tightly controlled as befitted a master swordsman, but his ability to fit into society was limited at the best of times and he did always think of _clan_ first everyone _else_ second. Ric was a mystery to Cathi. Sometimes he acted like a five year old and other times like a Grandmaster. Olim was calm and considered and kind most of the time but so powerful as to be _terrifying_. Quais was his trainee and busy as all get out learning what it was to be a Cyberlancer. She didn't see either of them doing such. Karen was young, but far wiser than her years. Miguel and Brianna may have been human, but no one took them lightly in the clan. That left Rica, but she had worked hard to get to know Cathi and the two worked well together. Others came and went, but aside from Tiana, those were the core of Cathi's family. A family that had lost its patriarch. Tiana was trying her best and her best was very good indeed, but...

Cathi shook her head slowly and held out her hands to the Nyx as if for manacles. Magda recoiled.

"Not a _chance_ , Cathi." The policewoman said severely. "You have been here since you got back. That is documented. Brianna wanted to talk to you and you wouldn't. She was upset, but let you come here alone." Cathi bowed her head. It hurt her to see Brianna trying so hard, but Cathi simply wasn't ready yet. "That means you are the _only_ one of the clan with an ironclad alibi since she logged the date and time that you entered here. No one has entered or left the room." Cathi stared at the cop and then pointed at the ceiling, a quizzical expression on her face. Magda grimaced. "Tiana insists that _her_ name be on the list too. But _she_ called me in."

Cathi was shaking her head in bemusement now and the Nyx copied her. Cathi pondered for a moment and then rose to her feet. The Nyx scrambled to follow as Cathi strode from the garden, her footsteps leaving imprints in the sand showing her desire for speed. Magda hastened to keep up, despite her warframe.

"Cathi?" Magda asked as Cathi entered an elevator, the Nyx following. Cathi nodded and keyed for Medical. Magda shook her head as the elevator started off. "What are you doing?" Cathi shook her head and the Nyx snorted. "Stupid question. You _never_ know what you are doing, _do_ you?"

Cathi grinned at her friend, but schooled her features as the elevator stopped. She strode forward, ignoring everything but the door ahead of her and the guard beside it. Aeron wasn't happy. He jerked at seeing her with Magda, but did not speak as she passed him. She swept into Medical and then started for the single closed door that led to a private room. Iriana was standing just outside the door as Cathi stalked towards her, the Healer's face a mask. Iriana nodded and opened the door.

"You need to eat, Tenno Diana." Janna's voice was firm as she sat beside the bed where... Cathi felt her guts freeze as she saw the female Tenno. The... wreck that had been a female Tenno warrior so shortly before. The eyes were covered by bandages and the leg... Cathi snarled to herself and started forward. Janna looked at Cathi, her face bleak.

"I don't think I could keep it down, Tenno Janna." Diana's voice was firmer than Cathi had expected. There was no trace of self pity or remorse. Just fact. Cathi found herself warming to this sort of enemy. "It didn't hurt, but... I don't think I can keep it down. Not even soup right now." She gave a small cry as Cathi grabbed her hands. "What?"

Cathi pulled Diana's hands up to her own face. She guided the hurt Tenno's fingers to sweep over her face, letting her 'see' the only way the blind Tenno could. Letting Diana feel the tears that were falling now. Janna stared and then looked away. Iriana and Magda both looked away, humbled by the emotion -the trust- that the standing Tenno was showing.

"Who...?" Diana asked as she felt Cathi's face carefully. "Who am I... touching? Who is crying?"

"My name is Cathi Gata." Cathi said softly. "You may call me Cathi."

"I..." Diana would have retreated, but Cathi had hold of both of her hands, keeping her fingers in contact. "No! Let go! I..."

"This clan has wronged you." Cathi said firmly. "We have hurt you sorely. Enemies we may be, but there _are_ limits. Karl would _not_ approve. You will be harmed _no_ further. I _swear_ it." Rock would have shifted from her voice. Wise rock anyway. "You need care. Sustenance. Ease. We will give you all of these. I know not what the future holds, but this I _do_ know. No one will hurt you again while you are here. _No one_." Her gaze swept the room and the others all bowed, acknowledging the oath.

"I..." Diana swallowed hard, her fingers gentle as they explored Cathi's face. "Thank you. This is hard."

"Yes." Cathi said sadly. "We Tenno are supposed to be better than this. We are not supposed to kill each other, torture each other. We have fallen so far." She held Diana's hands as the bedridden Tenno turned her face to the standing warrior.

"No one is perfect." Diana said softly. "And you lost your clan leader." She paused as Cathi stilled. "Oh... He was a friend. Wasn't he?"

"He was." Cathi worked to keep her voice calm, but it was hard. Diana was very perceptive for not being able to see.

"I..." The bedridden Tenno slumped a bit. "I don't know what happened. They said that it wasn't us. That Gillie -the leader- did not order it. You cannot believe me. But I don't think they were telling me falsehoods."

"We will get to the bottom of this." Cathi promised as she sat on the bed beside Diana and laid the Tenno's hands back beside her. "For now though, you need to recover. Listen to the Healer."

"I always listen to Healers." Diana protested with a small grin. Cathi snorted and Diana's grin widened a bit. "I _do!_ "

"I bet." Cathi smiled as she took the woman's hands in her own again, this time giving them a squeeze. "There is a policewoman here who is investigating your injury." Diana stiffened as Magda cleared her throat. "The Warlord is not happy and called her in."

"I...see." Diana said with a frown. "I was unconscious."

"Which means you are not a suspect." Magda said with a grin in her voice. Diana stared at her and then laughed.

"Good." Diana was chuckling as she turned to Cathi. "Is Janna still here? I think... maybe I _am_ hungry after all."

"Be right back with your meal." Janna promised. She nearly flew from the room, but her face was radiant. Iriana smiled from where she stood.

"I don't blame your clan for being upset." Diana mused. "I mean... if someone killed _my_ clan leader, I would be kind of pissed too."

"There is a difference between being upset and what they did to you." Iriana said heavily. "I am working on repairing your leg. The eyes..." She slumped a bit. "I don't think there is anything I can do."

"Healer... I am alive." Diana said softly. "That is more than I expected to tell the truth."

"Well..." Cathi smiled as she set Diana's hands down again, but held onto her right one.

"Let's see if we can do better."

* * *

Ceres

The cavern was small and out of the way. No one with any intelligence whatsoever wandered around this area. Ceres was a massive Grineer shipyard. The whole planetoid had been converted into manufacturing facilities for the Grineer fleets. The sheer number of Grineer worker and soldier clones boggled the mind. That said, even Grineer could not be everywhere.

It helped that several Grineer had been 'adjusted' to keep the area clear of other patrols.

"Shaun?" Gillie looked like hell. She was tired. She had been running herself ragged, trying to fix what had happened. They had lost a lot of resources with the laboratory that Iriana had blown up. "How you doing?"

"I am alive." The Chroma was slumped in a pod that was repairing his warframe. He couldn't exit it with the amount of damage he had taken in the battle. If he did, his body would fail immediately. "Hurts, but I am alive. Status?"

"Viveka is gone. Diana too." Gillie said sadly. "No contact with either of them. It was a risk, but we needed the personnel."

"Tampering with Iriana was a mistake." Shaun said softly. Gillie nodded. "The others?"

"Still in deep cover." Gillie said with a frown. "They will stay there until we can recover. This is bad. I thought..."

"You _didn't_ _**think**_." A dark, cold voice sounded and both turned to see a white Loki Prime simply ooze from one wall of the cavern. "Do you have _any_ idea the _mess_ you have made, Executor?"

"Sun..." Gillie swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes. I do."

"This is about as bad as I could have imagined." Sun didn't move, didn't draw any weapons. The cold and calm scorn in his voice could have cut steel. "Really? _Kidnapping_ Iriana? _Programming_ her? What the _hell_ were you _thinking_?"

"She was resistant to the demons' influence and..." Gillie froze as Sun gestured at her.

"You know what they are." Sun snapped. " _I_ know what they are. But now...? The Lotus _and_ Nikis are _both_ madder than _hell._ They are _not_ going to stop digging now. You cannot hide from them. One or the other, maybe. Not _both_." Shaun and Gillie both winced at that. "Going after Iriana was _dumb!_ "

"I..." Gillie bowed her head. "Yes. It was. But... Grandmaster Sun, it was her only chance."

"Blowing her up was her only chance?" Sun demanded.

"Grandmaster Sun..." Gillie said weakly. "We didn't do that." Sun just looked at her. "If you interrogated Viveka..."

"I did." Sun said coldly. "She was most informative." Gillie winced at that. "You really should have kept her on a tighter leash. Sending her to the Relay was a bad idea."

"Her idea." Shaun said softly. Sun glared at him and the Chroma seemed to wilt. "Tried to stop her."

"Not hard enough." The Loki said coldly. " _Shooting_ her would have been kinder than what Nikis will do to her. The _only_ reason she is not dead right now is that he has no proof she was directly involved. If he gets that, her life will be measured in _milliseconds_. Her _death_? **_Centuries_**."

"Grandmaster..." Shaun said weakly . "She wasn't involved. None of us were."

"It was your weapon." Sun said flatly. Gillie winced again and the Loki Prime looked at her. "Do you deny it?"

"No." Gillie said weakly. "We lost track of it. Him. The command protocols should have brought it back to us. Instead..." She bowed her head. "The first we knew was when the alert went out. When all Tenno felt Karl's passing. We... We didn't do it, Grandmaster Sun. We didn't."

"Evidence says you did." Sun said flatly. "They backtracked from Oracle Janet's vision, identified the carrier. He was known as one of yours. Really? Putting them into your own people?"

"I wanted to see if I could." Gillie said slowly. Sun just looked at her and she flushed a bit. "Yes, I know."

"There are many reasons that no one sane uses those weapons, Executor." Sun said firmly. "They tend to piss off every Tenno who hears about them. They did when your peers used them. They will _now_."

"I..." Gillie slumped a bit and then nodded. "I know. It was never intended to be used at the Tower or against Tenno. Against the Corpus maybe. Or the Grineer. Not that. Never that. I have no idea how it got there or how it was keyed to the Healer."

"Someone keyed it to Iriana." Sun said flatly. Gillie and Shaun both stared at him. "Someone wanted to start a conflict between that clan and your group. Someone wanted you distracted, maybe destroyed." He shook his head. "They have succeeded in getting you out into the light where they can see you, hunt you."

"We need to figure out who." Gillie said slowly. "There are not that many who could..."

"Gillie.." Sun interrupted her. "That is beside the point. Your job was to remain unnoticed. To do small things. This was _not_ small." Gillie slumped and nodded.

"No." Gillie agreed. "But we know she was in danger! We had to get her safe."

"She _was_ safe." Sun retorted. "You blew your cover."

"And I can't have Intelligence Black Ops teams blowing their cover."


	5. Chapter 5

**Seeking**

He was brave but he was also careful. There were limits to all things and he knew that better than most. This place, this hive of clone activity, pushed his skills and endurance to their very limits, which was one reason he kept coming back. He lived to push himself. To see how far he could go. It was really the only thing that kept him sane in the crazy world he lived in.

He did not exactly skulk, but he wasn't drawing attention either as he moved from shadow to shadow. He wasn't sure _what_ had draw him to this place. Something had, he was sure of _that_. But he wasn't one to question. He had learned early on not to resist when things outside of his perceptions started pushing him, even if he would have liked nothing more than to run screaming the other way on occasion. This wasn't a place for him normally. He was far more at home surrounded by nature than this mass of metal and plastic mixed with degenerating clones.

As he waited for another patrol to pass, he checked his weapons absently. The Attica crossbow was fully loaded and ready. His Hikou throwing stars hung ready to his hands. His Nikana was also as perfect as it had ever been. It still bothered him, wielding such a weapon. He much preferred a spear or a staff. But he could not forget. He _would_ not forget. He hadn't seen it happen, his sister's fate. He had been powerless to assist her. She had gone to her fate willingly and that had hurt. Far more than another wound he had taken in his long, long existence, Kori's calm acceptance of her death had shaken her brother badly. Carlos had taken a great deal of time to move beyond the grief, beyond the rage and pain. To get _back_ to being what he was.

Carlos was not Healer, although he tried hard. He was no mediator, although he worked with Elders and others frequently. He was no builder, although he did gain some enjoyment from making things that would last. He was what he was. A _weapon_.

His Sentinel pulsed and he stepped out into the tunnel. The Prisma Shade wasn't the brightest of artificial intelligences, but it served quite nicely. He wasn't one to name tools, but this one was fairly special. It really wasn't that bright, even for a sentinel. But it was funny on occasion.

 _Shall we make some mischief, Master?_ The sentinel asked in it's not verbal way. _These clones make dandy subjects. Make them chase shadows or trip into refuse pits?_

 _Not today, you silly thing._ Carlos had a grin under his faceplate as he moved through the Grineer shipyard. _We need to find the pens. We need to see if the humans that vanished came here. Maybe then we can cause some havoc._

 _This unit looks forward to it._ Carlos wasn't sure of the sentinel had been intended to cheer him up or not.

He wouldn't put such past his kin. The seven of the First who were left were a sneaky lot. They came by it honestly. Living in the Citadel and hiding for so long had made each and every one of them circumspect even if it wasn't normally in their nature. Now? He honestly wasn't sure if he still was one of them though. He had been distant, estranged. Ever since Kori's death he had gone out and about, seeking an answer to _why_ the Phoenix had chosen his sole remaining flesh and blood kin. The ancient weapon needed a female Tenno to activate, he knew that. But why Kori? His talks with Caretaker Jasmina had been interesting, but in the end, unsatisfying.

He touched the sword at his waist once more and fought back a sigh. Kori was gone. He had to accept that. Maybe someday, he would see her again. Maybe not. But he didn't want to accept it. He hadn't known what to expect when Bellina, the then leader of the Citadel, had told him that Kori was his sister. That somehow, through time and space, his family who had moved on after him had produced a daughter. And that daughter had been remade by the Orokin during their desperate fight with the Sentients.

And now, she was gone. It hurt. It really did.

The Oberon gave himself a stern shake and moved on. He had a job to do. He wasn't affiliated with... Karl's Shadow. The clan that until recently had been led by a Tenno that most everyone respected. Karl's loss had shaken almost every Tenno. And the way he had died... not in combat, but slain by a _bomb!_ A coward's weapon. He would help that clan in memory of his sister who they had helped, but he was not-

He froze as the Shade clad him in energy that cloaked him from sight. Enemy nearby. He stepped to the side of the corridor, hyperaware of the surroundings. It was a Grineer facility and the walls were as disgusting looking in places as the clones who had built them. But... something was wrong.

A patrol of Grineer stomped through the corridor. But ... none of them were looking around! They all looked vaguely disoriented. He stared at them as they passed. Not one of the visible eyes so much as _blinked!_ This was... A scream of pain from a human throat sounded from nearby and his Attica was held ready. Then he paused. The Grineer hadn't stopped to investigate? Was such a sound so common? There were no slave pens anywhere nearby. The Grineer felt that nothing _but_ Grineer was worthy of existing, but they didn't want to do all the work themselves either. So, it was part and parcel to their society that they took slaves and worked said slaves literally to death. After all, there were always more humans to find and enslave. And if they ran out? Always more clones that didn't quite fit in. He had wondered at first why the common Grineer found out in space was called a 'Dreg'. It was simple. They were the refuse, the trash. For most cultures, throwing away so many of anything would be anathema. For Grineer? It was simple efficiency. If something worked well, they kept it. If not? They discarded it or used it for lesser tasks until it broke.

But... there were not supposed to be any humans nearby. No guards, no pens, no 'training' facilities. The facilities were set up for Grineer and only Grineer. So... what?

 _What the hell?_ Carlos swallowed hard and slowly started off. What met his eyes had him freezing in his tracks.

The room was large. It had to be. Twenty beds had been set up in orderly rows. Strapped to each bed was a human. Three forms that looked kind of like warframes moved between each row. The screams were coming from one of the beds and one of the forms, a female looking one, stepped to it and the screams cut off. The misshapen form patted the human's head and... _the golden device attached to it_! Carlos recognized the device. An Orokin mind control system. Each was self contained. Once attached to the subject, they preyed on the victim's psyche, warping it, twisting it. It didn't work on Tenno, their training ensured that. But humans had no chance against it. He froze as a loud voice shouted from the other side of the room.

" _STOP THIS!_ " The male voice screamed. "This is _wrong!_ " Carlos went still as he saw another Tenno. A Limbo warframe. But... the other was pinned to the wall, literally. Carlos felt faint as he saw the Boltor rounds that had maimed the Limbo. "They are humans! You cannot do this!"

 _The Shadow commands._ One of the others stepped towards the Limbo, an Ether Reaper scythe appearing in its hand. _We obey. You will serve._

"NEVER!" The Limbo screamed. "You are evil! Monsters! I-" He screamed as the other cut once, twice.

 _You are alone._ The odd not-quite-a-Tenno sounded almost gentle. Almost. _The Shadow is strong. He will show you the way._

Was this what he had been guided to? His death? Carlos wondered as he shouldered his crossbow. Ranged weapons would do little good here. This would be a test of cold steel. There were at least three of the hideous warframe like things and he was alone. The battle would not be easy if he could win at all.

"You may kill me, but you cannot change the fact that you serve evil!" The Limbo screamed as the Ether Reaper flashed again. "I WILL NEVER SERVE YOU!"

 _Foolish Tenno._ The voice was mocking now. _Who says you have a_ **choice** _?_

"I do." Carlos stepped out into the room, his hand on his Nikana. "Begone foulness. Taint this place no longer." Inside, he quailed as all three of the things turned to scrutinize him. Where had _that_ come from? Three to one. The odds were not good. The Limbo hung still. Dead? Unconscious? He couldn't say.

 _You dare to face us alone, Tenno._ The form was almost as Excalibur warframe, if one assembled by a madman while in the grip of hallucinogenic drugs. _Brave but foolish._

The others drew weapons. Once had a pair of pistols. The other, a rapier and a claw. But then, everything stopped as _another_ voice sounded. Carlos dared a glance around. There was no one else present!

 _Well..._ Another voice. A tantalizingly familiar one. Not -quite- anyone he knew. Was it? _Then it is a good thing he is_ **not** _alone, isn't it?_

Carlos froze as an Orthos Prime simply appeared in mid-air nearby. It spun, once, twice as if it's wielder was testing the balance. But there was no one there! It moved to his side as he stood, his hand on his Nikana.

 _The Shadow will rule._ The spokebeing's voice was awful as it hefted its scythe. _Tricks will not save you Tenno. Our master commands. We obey._

"You are not Tenno." Carlos felt a calm descend on him. It felt... outside of him. But it wasn't... He was in control, but he felt...something else? Gentleness, sadness, worry. All of these and more. But then power flooded through him and he staggered a bit. But he was Tenno , master of himself and his warframe. "Flee or die, foul one. You will not prevail this day." What the hell? He didn't talk like that. Did he?

 _What is this?_ The dark voice sounded curious.

"Come and find out." Carlos stepped forward, the hovering Orthos Prime at his side.

 _Hmmmm._ For a moment, Carlos thought the ghastly form would charge. Then it laughed. _This changes nothing._ _Darkness will rule. Shadow will prevail. You will all fall. But at a time of our choosing. Savor your empty victory, Tenno. These are ours._

Carlos jerked as golden energy surrounded each still human. Then he stared as the Limbo jerked free of the wall and raised his hands.

"NO!" The Limbo's voice held pain and anger in equal measure. "We will not allow this I... will not allow this!" He waved both hands and each of the humans was suddenly covered in silvery energy. "You will _not_ take them!"

The not-quite-a-Tenno with the twin pistols took aim and fired, but the bullets passed through the Limbo harmlessly to impact against the wall. All three of the not-Tenno forms turned transparent. Two knelt and the other looked from Carlos to the Limbo.

 _You will not deny us what is ours._ The shadow with the scythe said nastily. _Enjoy your time. It is fleeting._

"Everything dies, monster." Carlos retorted evenly as two of the three faded from sight. Teleporting away. "But not every being truly _lives_ and _when_ we meet again? I _will_ show you mercy by _ending_ your twisted existence."

 _Do you really think you can, Tenno?_ The other's cold laugh might have matched Nikis for sheer malevolence. Carlos did not reply and the other nodded to him. _We will meet again._

"I look forward to it." Carlos retorted evenly. " _You_ should not." Then he realized something as the other knelt and disappeared. The Orthos Prime that had been hovering beside him was gone! The Limbo stared at him and then collapsed as the energy that surrounded the humans faded.

"I..." The Limbo tried to speak as Carlos ran to him, the green mist falling. "I..."

"Easy, brother." Carlos said quietly. "I have you."

"First." The Limbo said softly. Carlos nodded. Then again, the Oberon _Prime_ was sort of a dead giveaway at times. Not many of those outside of the Citadel. "I... I surrender."

" _WHAT?_ "

* * *

The extraction team had come and gone. The humans would be tended to the best of Tenno ability. Carlos wasn't sure if it would be enough. He remembered the Orokin and their tools for control. For so long, they had controlled their own kind with such things. The few times that had tried to do such to Tenno hadn't ended well. The latest mess with Healer Iriana had been a case in point how not to treat Tenno. Trying to enslave them tended to make them angry.

The extraction team had been focused on the humans. None had paid the kneeling Limbo any mind at all. Carlos had ignored him as well and the Limbo hadn't spoken. Not since his utterly unexpected words.

Tenno did not surrender. It was anathema to them. There were times when they had little choice. When honor and duty collided for one. Carlos didn't like remembering, but when Master Richard had returned, Bellina had surrendered to a Tenno Elder to heal the schism within Tenno ranks before blood was shed. More blood. But this... Then Carlos stiffened. Duty and honor. The single hardest choice that any Tenno could ever face. To do one's duty or to obey one's honor.

Carlos strode to where the Limbo knelt and scrutinized the warframe. It was unremarkable except for the rift energy that played across it's frame. It's wounds had been repaired by the biomechanical armor as always.

"Tenno do not surrender."Carlos said slowly. "Unless by not surrendering, they will lose far more than they will gain." The Limbo bowed his head. "Name?"

"Timothy." The Limbo said softly.

"Okay, Timothy." Carlos shook his head. "What now?"

"My life is forfeit." Timothy said in a monotone. "But I could not stand by. I was... told to protect these. To see what could be done. I didn't... We didn't..."

"Who is 'we'?" Carlos asked coldly. Timothy did not react and Carlos sighed. "Timothy. Who is 'we'?"

"He is "Rising'." A familiar voice sounded and Carlos turned to see three Tenno he knew enter the now empty room. Tiana wore her Nyx Prime warframe, Rica stood beside her in her Banshee and... Carlos was in motion before the Loki had his Snipetron aimed. The Loki might be able to shoot around the Oberon. He might be angry enough to shoot _through_ him. The heavy sniper rifle could do that easily. But...

"Aeron, stop." Tiana pushed the sniper's rifle down. "I know you are angry. So am I. So is everyone. But we have done enough harm already. Carlos?" She asked the Oberon who did not move.

"He surrendered." Carlos said softly. Tiana did not move, but the Loki actually recoiled a step. "He wasn't hurting the humans. He kept them from being taken by some kind of twisted parodies of Tenno. Odd, nasty things."

"Did." Timothy's voice was tiny. He did not raise his head. Carlos stared at the kneeling Oberon and then winced.

"You did that to the humans. Enslaved them." The Oberon's words were not a question.

"I can't do it gently." Timothy was nearly in tears. "We needed the Healer and..." The report of Aeron's Snipetron was muted and Timothy bit back a scream as a hole appeared in his arm.

"Aeron!" Tiana snapped, moving to block his view. "Hurting or killing him won't change anything. It won't even make us feel better. And you know how Karl would feel about that." She declared. Aeron actually winced and the Nyx nodded. "Yeah. He wouldn't be polite."

"No, he wouldn't." Carlos bent to tend Timothy's arm. "Cathi Gata is not going to be happy either." He paused as all three of the newly come Tenno winced in unison. "She... is upset."

"Why do you think we are _here?_ " Tiana asked mildly. "She and Iriana are making our lives miserable." Timothy jerked but subsided as Carlos laid a hand on his shoulder. "Carlos..."

"He fought to protect the humans from those things." Carlos said softly. "He was injured and they said they would turn him too." He couldn't have missed Timothy's shiver if he had been blind. "What happened?"

"I am not a Healer!" Timothy said weakly. "I was told to put the things on them! I argued, but I was told to. We... I didn't want to. It hurt them." Carlos did not react and the Limbo slumped. "I will face justice for what I have done, but those...those things..." He looked at Carlos and shook his head. "They hit me from behind while I was trying to ease one female's pain. I didn't know what I was doing, but I had to try. Anyone with an ounce of empathy would _try_."

"After what you did to them, you expect us to believe you have any empathy whatsoever?" Aeron demanded, only to relax as Tiana glared at him, her stern visage clear even through her closed helmet.

"I am what I am." Timothy said softly. "But those? Those are worse. Far, far worse."

"I know." Carlos agreed. The others looked at him and the Oberon shrugged. "They were not Tenno. The sort of looked the part, but... they seem to have no honor. Only loyalty to something called 'The Shadow'."

"They said I would serve this 'Shadow' of theirs." Timothy said weakly. "I don't want to. I... I didn't want to hurt the humans." The others looked at him and he shook his head. "I _didn't_."

Carlos spoke for all of them.

"We shall see."


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the delay. All I can say is this: X-Com 2 ROCKS!**

* * *

 **Starting Investigation**

Diana was working hard to try and figure out the odd thing the Healer had asked her for. Iriana had asked the stricken Tenno to try and map her brain, try to reroute her neural connections herself. The Healer was upset and had stormed out after Diana had failed for the fourth time. Janna had soothed Diana's worry and gone after her mom to try and calm the irate Healer down. Diana knew that the Healer wasn't angry with _her_ and the disabled Tenno understood.

Iriana was a being of deep emotion. The Healer had been traumatized _very_ badly by the events that had given her another daughter and she would be long recovering from them. Diana hoped that Iriana's old mate could help, but that being needed help himself. Recovering from a full memory wipe was not a quick or easy process. Maybe if Iriana focused on that she would let go of some of the anger at what had happened to Diana? Diana had accepted this. Truth be told, she had expected to _die_. Anything better was a plus in her book. The blindness was inconvenient, but like all Tenno, Diana was adaptable. She went on. It was all she could do.

"Excuse me." A new voice sounded nearby and Diana paused in her slow mental survey of her brain structure. She had _finally_ managed to get her mind to 'feel' the energy flows like Iriana had wished, now she had to map them. If she could. She couldn't quite keep the 'feel' long enough to trace. But it was a step. She hoped to make the Healer smile with the news. She liked Iriana.

Tenno bodies were basically machines to house the energy that made them up. The damage that had been done had seared neural paths in Diana's physical brain. A cloned replacement body would fix that as well as the leg that was starting to itch as whatever the Healer had done started to regenerate the lost limb. Iriana had been closemouthed about what she was doing or how. Problem with a clone was that it took a lot of effort to _authorize_ one and frankly? No one wanted to 'waste' such on a terrorist. The big debate was whether or not Diana was one now and if she needed to be treated as such. Iriana was _not_ happy with the Elders currently.

"Yes?" Diana asked, turning her head to the voice. It felt odd, her head. The covering that Iriana had insisted she wear over her eyes to protect them wasn't restrictive, but it felt odd.

"Diana, my name is Jumper." The voice sounded male. Kind but in a distant way. "I am affiliated with this clan. I am not your enemy." He hastened to add as Diana tensed.

"Couldn't fight a _cold_ very well right now." Diana waved the hand that wasn't festooned with whatever the Healer had attached to her. Tubes, wires, all kinds of things. Nothing hurt, but it was all inconvenient and a bit embarrassing. Diana couldn't see what it was, but she could feel that it was extensive. She _did_ relax a bit.

"You do yourself a disservice, Ma'am." Jumper said kindly. "I wanted to talk to you. Things... don't make a lot of sense to me."

"They don't make a lot of sense to _me_ either." Diana snorted a laugh and then sank back into the inclined bed. It was very comfortable, but it also was her prison for now. Iriana promised that Diana's leg would regrow and she would walk again, but it would take some time. Until then? She was stuck. "What do you want to know?"

"If it's not an imposition, I would like to know what you know about the 'Rising'." Jumper said quietly, his voice approaching. Odd. Usually, Diana could hear movement when people approached her bed. Her ears compensated for the loss of her eyesight. Now? Nothing.

"Sun already interrogated me." Diana could not resists a shiver at the memory. Sun hadn't been rough at all. He hadn't touched her at all. That kind of made it worse. She had been a passenger in her own body. He had given the command codes and despite his reassurances, the fear of being out of control of herself was slow to fade. She was not expecting the other to chuckle sourly. "What?"

"I know _better_ than to ask Sun _anything_." Jumper's tone was just as sour as his chuckle had been. "He _might_ answer."

Diana paused her immediate rejoinder and thought about that. Then she had to smile.

"Good point. 'Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it', huh?" Diana allowed. Then she heaved a sigh and gave herself a shake, settling a bit. "I assume you are here with authorization? Not that I can do much about it if you are not."

"Yeah." Jumper sounded odd. Was that a _purr_? "Most of the clan is busy. The medics are working with Iriana to help you or figure out what happened. Most of the Warriors are out and about. I can get Alicia in here to vouch for me if you wish."

"I would appreciate that." Diana admitted. "Not that I don't trust. I don't have much choice." She waved her hand at her covered face. "But we should keep this as aboveboard as we can. Too many secrets can kill just as surely as too few. But both _will_ kill if we let them."

"Agreed." The other said quietly. "Alicia is on her way."

"You didn't use a com." Diana said slowly. There was no answer. "And you are not Tenno. I would sense you if you were. So..."

"He is _Jumper_." Alicia's voice was odd as a door hissed. Rueful? Amused? Resigned? All of these and more. "He is a law unto himself."

"She didn't know what happened. She wasn't involved. But she _is_ a source of intel." Jumper's voice was soft as something small landed on the bed beside Diana who froze. She felt the breath leave her lungs as _something_ touched her free hand. It... nuzzled her? "I need to properly introduce myself. My name is Jumper. Rank Three Specialist, Feline Corps."

"Fe- _line_..." Diana breathed. She didn't remember much about that. What she _did_ remember was frankly _terrifying_. Just the thought of a sentient, talking _cat_ made any self respecting guard or intelligence operative pale. Add intelligence training and augmentation to do all kinds of odd and nasty things and... well... She had seen hard bitten spy masters _wet themselves_ at the mention of the Corps. Either from fear or desire to try and get the cats to work for _them!_ Diana gave herself a shake and her hand was slow as it touched a small furred head. She gave it a pet.

"Behind the ears?" Jumper wasn't -quite- begging. Alicia was obviously smothering a laugh as Diana did as instructed and the cat started to purr loudly. "Oh, that is _awesome!_ "

"Well, at least we know how they will bribe you, Jumper." Alicia still sounded halfway between amused and resigned. "Scratch behind your ears and you are someone's devoted slave for life."

"Come off it, Alicia! It would take more than that." Jumper retorted evenly. Then he gave half moan/half purr of pleasure as Diana continued her scratching. "Oh, that is nice."

"Maybe a nice fresh fish too." Alicia said sourly. Jumper made a noise and Alicia laughed. "You know you can't spoof _all_ of the cameras, Jumper. The Koi population _has_ been dwindling and _your_ whereabouts _have_ been questioned. The Warlord is _not_ amused."

"Hey!" Jumper protested. "I am innocent! I am as pure as the driven snow!"

"Yellow snow." Diana managed. There was utter silence for a moment and then both of the others started to laugh. Diana joined in. It felt good to laugh. "I have only known you for a few minutes and I can tell that you are a devious sort, not to be trusted."

"Hey!" Jumper protested loudly, but Diana scratched his head again and he purred louder. "Oh..."

"You seem to be a good judge of character." Alicia said with a snort. "Jumper is not a trustworthy soul around fish or people who cater to his demands for attention."

"Hey!" Jumper protested. "I resemble that!"

"Yes, you do." Alicia retorted. "Diana, you need anything?"

"I am good." Diana continued to pet the cat, eliciting pleased sounds that reverberated through her body. The sound felt very good. "I am... oh..." She was turning into putty.

"Jumper." Alicia said sharply. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" The cat asked.

"If _Iriana_ catches you doing your mojo on Diana, the Healer _will_ skin you alive." The medic warned. "She wasn't joking about the 'cat chops and kitty tail soup'. You _know_ she wasn't." The wonderful sound faded and Diana felt a sense of loss.

"Just wanted to calm her." Jumper said softly. "You are, right?" The head butted Diana's hand and she smiled.

"Yeah." Diana was clearheaded, just very relaxed. "This is... What did you do?"

"It's ultrasonics." For once, Jumper's voice held no humor. "I am an interrogator, but not what people normally think of as one. I work with getting information gently. Drugs and torture are unreliable for most."

"Sun?" Diana could not help a quaver in her voice. No one would blame her.

"He is different. He has been doing it so long that it comes naturally to him. Not all of us are so experienced. Thank god." Jumper said softly. "I am going to relax you again? Okay?" Diana nodded and the wonderful sound flowed through her for a moment, easing tense muscles, soothing soreness. Then it was gone. "I am not taking control in any way. I am just helping you relax."

"Thank you for that." Diana said gratefully. "This has been rough."

"Yeah." An armored hand took hold of Diana's free one and gave a squeeze as Alicia sighed. "We did something horrible to you. Enemies we may be, but Cathi Gata was right. There are limits. We passed them."

"You don't know what happened." Diana protested. There was silence from the others and Diana continued. "Either this is the best laid and planned con I have _ever_ heard of or you really don't know what happened to me. I... find I don't care either way. My life is forfeit." This last was flat.

"Hey." Alicia gave her hand another squeeze. "Diana..."

"No." Diana said firmly. "The group I was affiliated with killed your clan leader. Even if it wasn't _us_ per say, it _was_ our weapon. We _are_ responsible."

" _You_ were not awake." Jumper's voice was quiet.

"And what we did to you..." Alicia's voice held shame now. "I was there. I let Stalker hurt you. I would have let him kill you."

"You were angry." Diana wasn't sure where this was going. "I don't blame you. Although I wish I knew who the Rhino was. I need to thank him."

" _Rhino_?" Jumper and Alicia chorused in identical quizzical tones.

"What Rhino?" Alicia asked. "I... None of the clan wear Rhino warframes anymore." Sadness peeked through her voice, but it was gone.

"I don't know." Diana admitted. "I mean, I was down, systems were failing. Then there is this Rhino holding off the guy in black and red. He was... incredible. I only saw a bit though before I blacked out." She paused. "You didn't see him?"

"I don't know _what_ I saw, Diana." Alicia was feeling her words with care. "It was... a bit tense. Especially when Viveka tried to ambush us."

"She _what_? I told her to _run_. Geez, that girl is _dense_." Diana complained. "As bad as any Tenno I known may be, she just gets _one_ idea in her head and runs with it."

"Pot meet kettle?" Jumper asked slyly. Diana turned her blind eyes to where his voice came from and his head butted her hand again. "You seem a bit determined yourself."

"Okay." Diana allowed. "Some truth to that. But... You don't know who it was?" She asked Alicia.

"No." Alicia's tone discouraged further conversation on that. Diana turned her head to where the other Tenno stood, but Alicia did not speak again. Diana shook her head.

"Okay." Diana relaxed and turned back to where she was still scratching a furred head. "So... what did you want to know, Jumper?"

"You were not awake long." The minute intelligence specialist said quietly. "But you likely heard and saw things that may help us make a concrete picture of what we are up against. The Rising operate in cells. We know this. You were affiliated with the leadership cell."

"Somewhat." Diana said a bit dubiously. "I mean, she told me to go places and do thing and I did. I am Tenno, not a desk jockey."

"Right." Jumper's tone was calm, but held anticipation.

"So, you worked with Shaun, Viveka and the Executor..."

* * *

Nearby

The Tenno known as Magda was fairly used to feeling overwhelmed. It came with her powers. The ability to sense other people's minds was far more often a curse than a blessing. Luckily her training allowed her to focus past that and see what _was_ , not what her fractious mind kept stubbornly telling her was _supposed to be_.

The Nyx stood back from the console with a sigh and her companion looked at her. Tiana didn't move, just shook her head.

"Nothing." The Warlord of the clan said softly. She wore robes, so her expression of disquiet was easy to see. Magda shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense. She _wasn't_ in that condition when she arrived. Someone had to do it to her before she went into cryo."

"All of your personnel are accounted for." Magda said with a soft groan as she slowly stretched herself out. Odd that even in a warframe, she could feel fatigue. It wouldn't actually let her hurt, but such things as tired eyes were not really enough pain to be healed. "They brought her in and put her in cryo. No one was left alone with her for any length of time. No one used any of the equipment. All of it has been verified. None of the gear was used."

"That doesn't make _sense_." Tiana complained. "I mean, Tenno are powerful and directed energy can do wonders or horrors, but..." She looked the cop and Magda shrugged.

Tenno were energy. They could focus their inner energy to a degree that humans simply could not comprehend. Even without the massive multiplier of the Zarimon children, _any_ Tenno could focus their inner core to be lethal to human sized forms. It was one of the things that made holding Tenno prisoner a dicey proposition at the best of times. Of course, one mistake and bad things happened. 'Smoking hole through skull' bad.

"I know." Magda blew out a breath and shook her head again. "Okay. So, we need to start over. She was hurt. She was put into cryo while hurt." Tiana winced but nodded. "No one even took _scans_?"

"They were supposed to." Tiana growled. "They didn't. Iriana was _not_ happy. Less when she realized what had happened. Janna's scans are the only ones we have and Diana's eyes were fine when Janna scanned her."

"Okay..." Magda had a frown in her voice now. "We have a Tenno who is being secured."

"Inhumanely." Tiana slumped a bit.

"Let's focus on what we know for now." Magda pressed. Tiana looked at her and then nodded. "I know the situation is going to be reviewed. Probably more than once. The Elders will be just as horrified as Iriana was, I bet." Tiana nodded again. "So, if she was put into cryo... by who?" She looked at the records. "Oh."

"Yeah." Tiana frowned again. "Jimmy." Magda made a gagging noise and Tiana nodded. "I know."

Jimmy was a legacy from Karl's brother Nicholas. Once, the cyborg medic had been a human boy. That was before the clan under Nicholas had gone rogue. Only Karl had remained true to the Code, loyal to the Elders. Jimmy had been hurt by Nicholas, nearly killed. The medic of the time, Cora, had tried to help the sorely hurt human, but she had been forced to flee the clan before she was able to, leaving him behind. Nicholas had found the half healed boy and in truly pragmatic fashion, had fabricated a cyborg body for the boy. Jimmy had served as a medic for the clan ever since. When Karl had killed Nicholas and taken control of the dojo, he had found Jimmy within. Karl had been horrified and promised Jimmy an end, but the boy had chosen to serve his savior and the clan Karl had founded. Willingly now instead of as a slave.

"None of the medical bay gear was used. The cyborg has built in medical equipment." Magda said slowly. Tiana stiffened and the Nyx held up placating hands. "Not accusing. Thinking out loud."

"Jimmy _would_ be capable of such." Tiana said slowly. "I know his tools are state of the art." She shook her head slowly. "But he isn't that big on acting for himself."

"I think we need to talk to him." Magda hated where this was going. If the cyborg _had_ crippled a Tenno, even a prisoner whose fate was still up in the air, the repercussions could be _dire_. "If he did... How well did he know Karl?" She stilled as Tiana's face paled. "Warlord?"

"I had forgotten. He knew Karl _before_." Tiana's voice was small, scared almost. "Before Nicholas went rogue. Years before that, Karl was on a mission to Ceres that went bad. He was hurt. Bad. He was found by a pair of human children. Both of them worked to help him."

"Jimmy was one of them." Magda's words were not a question. Tiana nodded anyway. "And then... Ceres..." She mused. "That was where Nicholas showed his true agenda for the first time, wasn't it?"

"He and his followers killed every human there." Tiana said with a grunt. "All except Jimmy and _he_ only survived because Cora hid his broken body from Nicholas."

"The more I learn about that renegade, the _less_ I want to know." Magda said sourly. Tiana nodded. "Do you think...?" She didn't finish the thought.

"Jimmy has been hanging around Tenno his whole _life_ almost. What there _was_ of it. Then Karl came and _gave_ him a life and freedom again." Tiana said sadly. "To _avenge_ Karl?"

"Oh, yeah. Jimmy _might_ cripple someone."


	7. Chapter 7

**Hearts**

Diana wasn't really tired, but Alicia had pointedly suggested to Jumper that he might want to give her a break before Iriana found him in the room. The cat had been wonderful company. Odd that. A spy. An _interrogator_ spy no less. But he had been kind to her. Gentle. He hadn't pushed her. He hadn't even been firm at all. She was sure he had gotten far more information from her than she thought, even not answering some of his questions. Funny that. Every time she had said 'I cannot answer that' for whatever reason, he had accepted that and moved on to something else. Oh, how many times she had... had...

She was drifting as something whirred nearby. She couldn't see it of course, but it sounded mechanical.

"I am sorry." An odd voice was heard close at hand. Diana felt curiosity rise, she hadn't met this person, had she? The voice sounded sort of familiar and sort of not. "The Protocols are clear. You will sleep now. Rest, Tenno. No more pain. No more fear. No more anger."

Something stung her arm at the elbow and fire ran through her arm, but then it soothed her, calmed her. Diana was floating as something wafted through her. It wasn't energy. It wasn't anything she was familiar with. But the feeling of falling was. She was dying. Fear rose. She tried calling for help but it hit something and reverberated inside her skull, going no further.

"JIMMY! STOP!" A familiar voice screamed nearby. Tiana!

Then Diana was falling into nothing.

* * *

"Jimmy!" Tiana snapped as the monitors around Diana all went off, aiming her Boltor at the cyborg. "Back away from her! Now!" The medical machine nodded and retreated. "Medic!" She screamed as the cyborg moved to the wall out of the way, the treads of his locomotion system silent on the floor.

"They will not be able to save her." The machine being's voice was calm. Tiana moved to stand between him and the bed as Alicia and others came running in. They took in the situation at a glance at started working on Diana.

"Jimmy?" Iriana's voice held horror and betrayal as she started to work. "Why?" She begged, then focused on her patient.

"That is a very good question." Magda's voice preceded the Nyx into view. She carried no weapon, but like all Tenno in warframes, she _was_ one. She nodded to the cyborg. "Warlord, we should get him out of here. Question him elsewhere." Tiana shook her head.

"Why?" The Warlord demanded. "What did she do to you, Jimmy?"

"She had to die." The cyborg replied evenly.

" _Why_?" Tiana demanded. "She wasn't a threat. She was a _prisoner!_ Not an enemy anymore." The cyborg did not respond and Tiana growled dangerously.

" _Out._ " Iriana commanded as she worked. The sheer force of her word had Tiana, Magda and Jimmy all moving.

Tiana kept her weapon trained on the cyborg as Magda led the way from the room, the medics working feverishly. The cop led the way into another room, this one empty. She indicated a space in the middle of the floor and Jimmy moved to that. Tiana took up station beside the door, her weapon still aimed.

" _Why_ , Jimmy?" Tiana demanded. "Why maim her? Why _kill_ her?" Magda waved at her and Tiana relaxed a little.

"We haven't met." Magda said calmly. "My name is Magda. Yours is Jimmy?"

"Yes." The cyborg replied evenly. If he was disconcerted by the Boltor aimed at him, it was unapparent.

"Okay, Jimmy." Magda was still calm. "You blinded Tenno Diana." That was not a question. "Why?"

"According to Protocol Nine, all prisoners must be fully secured." Jimmy replied evenly.

"Protocol... _Nine?_ " Tiana queried, but stiffened as Magda glanced at her.

"What is Protocol Nine?" Magda asked carefully. "What is its purpose?"

"Protocol Nine is reproduction security. Any female Tenno prisoner capable of bearing children must not be allowed to escape. Standard procedure calls for visual degradation as well as physical restraints." Jimmy replied. Magda stared at him and then at Tiana who was slowly paling.

"Tiana?" The cop asked.

"Jimmy..." Tiana said softly. "We haven't _had_ any female Tenno prisoners here until now."

"No." The cyborg replied.

"Why did you poison her?" Magda asked into the silence that fell.

"No prisoners can be let free. It is regrettable but necessary to protect the clan. To forge the future." The cyborg's voice was calm still, but... That sounded rote. There was something. Something more.

"We were not going to free her!" Tiana retorted. "We were going to _help_ her!"

"Irrelevant." Jimmy replied. "Prisoners must not be allowed to leave. The Leader commands. We obey." Magda stiffened as Tiana hissed.

"Jimmy..." Tiana's weapon was lowering a little as it seemed the cyborg wasn't really a threat to either of them. "What program is running? Right now?" Jimmy seemed to jerk and Tiana's weapon came back up but he didn't speak, didn't move.

"You can't answer that, can you?" Magda asked. Jimmy shook his head. "Tiana?"

"Jimmy. That program was activated when she arrived." The cyborg nodded to the Warlord's words and Tiana cursed. "And it was buried deep in your processor. Even Olim wouldn't have been able to check _every_ line of code." As this was not a question, the cyborg did not reply. "It stripped your free will from you! Oh gods, _Jimmy_... I need a direct answer, Jimmy." The Warlord said firmly. "What do you _feel_ right now?"

"I cannot..." Jimmy broke off and then spoke again. "Unable to vocalize."

"Programmed against letting the secret out." Magda's tone held horror now.

"Oh no, Jimmy." Tiana was just as horrified. "I thought we had fixed you." She shook her head. "You must obey. So, I order you to tell me how you feel. "

"I... did... not... want... to... kill... her." The cyborg grated out. "Help." He begged.

Magda and Tiana looked at each other and the Warlord holstered her weapon.

"We will."

* * *

Diana wasn't falling anymore. She wasn't floating. She was... Elsewhere? But...

She landed on her feet on a solid surface. She stared around and froze. She could _see!_ She wasn't alone. She was standing in a shallow cave. A small circle of stone surrounded an actual fire made from logs. The female Tenno in robes kneeling by the fire smiled at her.

"Hello Diana." The stranger said kindly. "Took you long enough." Diana stared at the stranger and then around. This wasn't a virtual world. It wasn't anything she knew. The stranger shrugged. "Are you going to stand there all day?"

"I... um..." Diana swallowed hard and then lowly knelt into seiza. "Am I dead?"

"Close." The other said quietly. "Very, very close. Even Nikis might be hard pressed to tell the difference right now and he is busy elsewhere. Iriana won't give up though." She smiled a bit ruefully. "Tenno don't generally and the Healer has enough stubbornness for three or four."

"No." Diana agreed with a matching smile. "No, we don't and yes she does. So... what. Why am I here?"

"Must there be a reason?" The other's voice was gentle, soothing and Diana relaxed.

"No." The newly come Tenno admitted with only a trace of bitterness. "But usually when I can't find a reason it comes around and bites me when I least expect it. The cyborg medic. He killed me."

"It wasn't his choice." The other was calm. "He was programmed by his creator with a number of vicious things that would only activate if certain conditions applied. They disabled the ones that would have made him destroy the dojo, kill everyone there. But they missed others. One of those was why he blinded you and poisoned you."

"Nicholas." Diana scowled as hate surged inside her. She focused past it and felt herself relax. " _He_ did this."

"Technically, the cyborg did." The other replied. "But Nicholas was the one who programmed the poor soul. So..." She shrugged. "Not really Jimmy's fault but the others will take some convincing of that."

"Do I know you?" Diana asked after a moment's thought.

"We have never met in person." The other said with a smile. "My name is Nikky."

"Hello Nikky." Diana relaxed as much as she could. This other obviously wasn't going to hurt her. "Why am I here?"

"To find your way." The other replied.

"But I am dead!" Diana protested.

"Are you?" The other reached out to touch Diana's arm and then retracted her hand. "Feels pretty solid to me. This isn't virtual. You are not a shade."

"Are you?" Diana asked carefully.

"I cannot answer that." Nikky's voice was quiet, reflective. "I think I am alive. To me, that is enough. I can think. I can reason. I can act." She shrugged. "I don't remember everything, but what I _do_ remember..." She paused and made a face. "Well, _some_ of it is worth remembering." Her face turned tender for a moment. "You?"

"I don't know." Diana slumped a bit. "I mean, I had a job. A nasty job, but one that needed doing. I didn't always agree with what the Executors did. But without them controlling it, Orokin was doomed."

"Yeah." Nikky's face was reflective now. "Too much avarice scattered too widely. Not all of the Orokin upper classes were self absorbed selfish jerks, but far too many of them were. 'Tenno serve, we do not rule.' The Orokin never had that control."

"Not all Tenno followed the First's command." Diana said sadly. Nikky nodded, her face bleak. There was something about her. About her face? No. Her feel. Her energy was familiar to Diana. "Where do I know you from?"

"We never met." Nikky was quiet, sad. "I wish we had, I think we would been good friends. But it was not to be."

"Who are you?" Diana pressed. "You are so familiar."

"I ought to be." Nikky reached out to pull Diana into a hug. "You follow my Way. A horrible Way. A path of death and destruction that even many _Tenno_ cannot comprehend. To walk such a path requires ironclad control or the toxins we make will consume us and everything we hold dear." Diana froze in the embrace. "I won't hurt you, Diana." Was Nikky _crying?_ She _was!_ "You make me so proud!"

"Saryn... I..." Diana swallowed as Nikky -the First Saryn!- hugged her again and then released her. "I..."

"You have had to make hard choices and they will only get harder." Saryn said as she released Diana and set the woman back on her knees. "Choosing who to trust and who to follow is never an easy path. Gillie never lied to you, Diana. But she never told you the whole truth either. You know this."

"I do." Diana said weakly. "Saryn..."

"I cannot guide you, Diana." Saryn's voice was kind but sad. So sad. "It wouldn't be right. Nikis gets all bent out of shape when the dead start messing around with the living. Frankly, I can understand even if he is absolutely infuriating about it at times. I can talk to you now since you are straddling the line between the two."

"I am not dead?" Diana asked.

"No." Saryn said with a smile that faded. "Diana, there is more going on than you might guess. You know the Rising did not kill Karl."

"It was our weapon." Diana protested, only to receive a slap from Saryn. "Hey!" Said slap didn't hurt, it just stung. But still, getting slapped by a legend in the flesh was jarring.

"You _know_ better." Saryn might have been an irritated schoolmistress now, from the glower she leveled on Diana. "Someone subverted your weapon. No one has asked the _single_ most important question."

Diana gave a cry as something grabbed hold of her and pulled. It was coming from nowhere. She fought it, focusing on the now warframe clad form that knelt beside her. The white and gold Prime warframe nodded to her.

"Go on." Saryn's voice was sad, but also proud.

"What question, Saryn?" Diana begged as pain started to pull her apart. She fought it still. She was losing the fight as Saryn reached out to pat her hand.

"Why implicate the Rising?"

* * *

Diana jerked awake to muted cursing. She couldn't move. She couldn't see. Everything hurt.

"Diana!" Iriana's voice held exhaustion and pain, but it turned jubilant as Diana turned her head to where to came from. The Healer's voice turned fearful. "No, no. Don't move! Don't try to speak. That poison is virulent and we are still fighting it."

 _Poison..._ Diana could feel the energy of several Tenno about her. She could her machinery working. She could feel things attached to her body. She focused her energy deep, deep inside herself despite a cry of alarm from Iriana and found what she sought. In bone marrow of her lower arm, a nasty fluid seeped through her. Everything it touched _died_. It was familiar. _A derivative of Saryn toxin..._

"Diana!" Iriana shouted. "Whatever you are doing, stop! You are too weak!" Diana ignored her, focusing on the poison. She could see its structure. It's focus on tearing her body apart at the molecular level. "Diana, please! Falcon, stop her!"

 _She is focusing on the toxin._ An new voice sounded. Younger, but no less powerful. More. Energy sang in her words. She sounded awed. _She recognizes it!_ Diana jerked and then opened her mind to the other. The sheer power in the touch astounded her even as healing energy poured into her. She knew what it was, and tried to recoil, but it was too late. _Easy, Ma'am. I am not a demon. I am Tenno and I am trying to help. Please let me help._ She begged.

 _Zarimon?_ Diana asked. A feeling of assent came and Diana relaxed. Saved or damned, she was committed now. _Do what you must. It is a variant of Miasma toxin, three stages from class five. It got into the bone marrow!_

 _We hadn't been able to identify it._ Falcon's tone was even more awed. _Healer!_

"On it." Iriana snapped and activity sounded all around Diana. She felt stings on her arm and chest. "Diana. We need to sequester your mind in case this doesn't work. Will you let us?"

 _No! Protect yourself!_ Diana protested silently. _Please! This toxin is nasty!_

 _She_ **is** _protected._ Falcon reassured her. _Everyone else is._ **You** _are in danger. Come, sister. Let us aid you._

 _I... I don't know..._ Diana hedged. _I mean..._

 _I know._ Falcon's voice turned sad. _To you I am a demon, bent on corrupting and destroying everyone around me. I can say anything, but you cannot trust. So don't trust_ **me** _. Janna, if you would please?_ A soft laugh and Diana jerked as the world fell away.

This time, she same to her senses in a virtual world. She could _see_ , but the sights were odd. It was grainy? Off. Another form appeared nearby, a female Tenno in a Trinity warframe. But odd. She wore an odd head piece that hovered behind her head and her sole weapon was an ornately carved staff. She looked at Diana and then around. She groaned.

"I screwed up the settings." The voice was young, so young. "Let me see if I can fix this." The world around them wavered a bit and then solidified, looking far more normal. The Trinity nodded. "Ah, there we go. Better?"

"Yes." Diana looked down at herself and she wore robes. "This... I couldn't see even in virtual worlds. How did you do this?" She asked.

"Once we knew what had been done, we looked for counters." The other bowed slightly. "I am Janna."

"Diana." The robed Tenno said weakly. "What counters? My nerves were burned out."

"Eh..." Janna actually looked sheepish. Hard to do in a warframe, but she managed. "You don't want to know." Diana opened her mouth, but Janna held up a hand and nearly begged. " _You don't want to know_." Diana stared at the younger Tenno and then closed her mouth with a click.

"Oh." The robed Tenno said. "Gross or classified?"

"Both in equal measure." Janna actually shivered. "Good news is that we can get you sight in virtual worlds again. Bad news is that we probably cannot in the real world without a clone. Which _lots_ of people are being idiots about." She wasn't faking that burst of outrage. Not a chance. "Mom is about to take steps."

"No." Diana protested."'No! She mustn't get in trouble for me."

"Not just for you." Janna sank into seiza, but she was a bit slow about it. As if she wasn't quite comfortable with it. Then again, if this _was_ the Janna who had precipitated Iriana's total screwing of the Executor's plans, then... she hadn't had a lot of time to practice. "Mom is _really_ annoyed with some of the medical establishment at the moment. They won't let her work until she had been certified again. Gone through _every single hoop_ again. Idiots. The Executor didn't change her healing ability or memory."

"I... I am sorry." Diana knelt in front of Janna. "I know what Gillie and the others did. Personally, I think it was wrong."

"So did they." Janna said calmly. "And they did it anyway. Wouldn't have been bad for them except that I was changed by touching Iriana's mind." Calm, matter of fact. But rage sang just below the surface.

"You have every right to your anger." Diana said softly. "You were abused. They used you to hurt Iriana. Such a betrayal... It hurts. It really does." For a moment, she was fifteen years old again, just about to accept her warframe. The pain cut deep. "I know."

"Many will refuse to trust you." Janna said quietly. "I am being scrutinized by many while I am here. But..." She shook her head. "I do not see an enemy in front of me. Maybe I am just stupid or seeing things that do not exist. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me still. But I see a sorely hurt sister in front of me. Not an enemy."

"Be very careful, Janna." Diana said into the silence that followed the Trinity's words. "I don't think Gillie set this up, but I don't know. And... I don't want to hurt you." Janna nodded.

"Well..." The young Tenno's voice was reflective now.

"I want to save _you_."


	8. Chapter 8

**Points of Scrutiny**

For a moment, the robed Tenno just stared at the Trinity and then she snorted.

" _Save_ me?" Diana asked. She shook her head. "Why do I get the feeling you are not talking about _physically_?"

"Karl's Shadow wants the Rising dead and gone. All of them." Janna replied, her tone calm and reflective. "Such vengeance is not good thing. Not for humans. Not for Tenno."

"Janna, you cannot change me." Diana said, not unkindly. "I am what I am. I am a servant of the Executors. I was from the moment I took the oaths. I will be until I die." She shook her head. "Not that I _want_ to die, but I gave my word. That means something to me."

"Did you swear blood oaths?" Janna asked, her voice still calm.

"Janna..." Diana groaned.

"I have a specific reason." Janna said after a moment's thought. "And not just my desire to help Mom." Diana stared at her and Janna slumped a bit. "Mom is... not doing well. She is coping, but she isn't getting any better. Honestly, the most animated I have seen her was when she realized what happened to _you_. Even Kat isn't helping her as much as we hoped. He is recovering himself and needs time and help. She cannot..." She trailed off, obviously distressed.

"Iriana?" The older Tenno queried, confused. "But she is-" She broke off as Janna coughed.

"Too many shocks, too quickly." Janna sounded almost in tears now. "What the Executor did to her drove her into a breakdown. She doesn't remember that or the therapy that brought her back. Thank _god_!"

"Breakdown?" Diana's voice was tiny as Janna nodded.

"Part of it was me." Janna admitted. "I was not entirely stable myself after everything. She pulled my mind in and held me tight to protect me from the brainwashing. The contact with her mind changed me, but it _also_ changed _her_. And _not_ for the better." Diana was staring at the younger Tenno in horror as Janna bowed her head. "I learned so much, about so many things but the _one_ thing I _so_ want to learn eludes me. How to help her. Your problems have pulled her out of her shell. I only hope it will last."

"Janna..." Diana said weakly. "You can't trust me."

"I know." Janna was firm now. "But that doesn't mean I can't _use_ you." Diana stiffened and Janna nodded. "I was ordered to help Mom. I would have anyway but this gives me some legal cover if I do anything...unexpected." She chuckled at Diana's expression.

"Janna." This time, Diana's groan was long suffering.

"Look, Diana, I am so new I squeak." Janna didn't lean forward, but it seemed as if she wanted to. "I am _completely_ clueless about a lot of things. But there is one thing I do know. A new Tenno needs a sponsor. Someone to show him or her the ropes, to teach him or her the things that he or she didn't learn or couldn't learn before." Diana was sure her jaw fell off as realization dawned. "Yeah. I want you."

"Are you _out_ of you bloody _mind_?" Diana didn't -quite- scream that. Janna just looked at her and then something suspiciously like a giggle escaped the girl. Diana goggled as the girl nodded.

"Correct me if I am wrong, Tenno Diana." Janna was obviously fighting a chuckle as she responded. "But I am not _in_ my mind currently, am I?" Diana stared at her and Janna laughed a bit more openly. "Am I?"

"Ah..." Diana paused and then collected her thoughts. "This is going to go over like a Grineer Napalm trying to _fly_." She said weakly.

"With some, yes. But I did get authorization to ask." Janna reassured the other. "From lots of people. This is not a little bratty girl going through a phase or having a fit of temper." She sighed a bit. "I did far too much of that before I met Iriana. Before she saved me."

"Janna..." The robed Tenno tried again. "My life is forfeit. I was captured by enemies who have a legitimate grievance against... my..." She trailed off as a dark form appeared behind Janna who did not move as the pitch black Nekros laid a hand on her shoulder. "Ah..."

"Girl has got a point." Nikis said quietly as Janna bowed her head. "I know vengeance, Diana." He was not hostile! "I have lived it."

"Grandmaster Nikis..." Diana cursed the quaver in her voice, but she was sure no one would call her on that. Not under these circumstances. "I... I can't... She is just a _kid!_ "

"You _really_ believe that?" Was Nikis _amused_? "Man, are _you_ in for a shock." He patted Janna's shoulder and retreated a step. "Show her, Janna."

This was a command. Diana stiffened as Janna spun to her feet, her staff coming to her hands. Janna turned in place to bow to the Nekros who returned it from the neck. Then the Trinity turned back to where Diana knelt and started a kata. Not a _beginner's_ kata either. No. This was _master_ staff kata. Flailing Branch was _not_ an easy set of katas, but Janna was performing each in sequence. Not swiftly, but her moves were crisp and clean. Not perfect, but hey, who was? Diana stared at the Nekros, but his posture was attentive to Janna, so Diana did not comment as Janna finished the kata called 'The Way' and slammed her staff to the ground properly. Diana stared at the Trinity and then at the Nekros who nodded to Janna who slung her staff.

"Where I...was... we studied ancient martial arts to stay in shape. Each of us was given instruction in what we wished." Janna said softly as she knelt again. "I chose the staff. It gave me reach. Not as flashy as a sword, but longer. None of us ever went beyond basics. It wasn't the Company way."

"You were Corpus." Diana said slowly. Janna nodded. "I don't understand."

"It is a long story and much of it is classified." Janna was still quiet. "Suffice it to say that when Iriana and Tiana needed a place to hide, they had one. I was tending them... when..." She slumped a bit.

"...when Viveka and Shaun kidnapped you both." Diana finished. Janna nodded.

"They shouldn't have been able to find them or get away from me so easily." Nikis mused. "Certainly not so fast. Got a few theories about that, but for now... Janna is my focus. Girl has a point. She is new. She is virtually untrained."

"She is _vulnerable!_ " Diana nearly exploded. "You know what Gillie or..." She paused as Janna nodded. "No. _NO_!" She screamed, scuttling to her feet and backing away from Janna who didn't move. Neither did Nikis. "No! I won't be party to using you as bait, Janna! I _won't!_ "

"You have no say in that." Janna's tone might have bent steel. " _My_ choice. We need to end this conflict. Soon. Tenno should not be fighting Tenno. We have _enough_ enemies."

"You _are_ out of your mind!" Diana snapped, hands up if to ward off blows even though neither of the warframes had moved. "That is insane. No! That is _beyond_ insane!" She snarled at Nikis who stood impassive. "You cannot allow this, Grandmaster!"

"Janna has the right to choose her path." Nikis retorted evenly. "Just as any Tenno does. Just as you did. Just as _Viveka_ did." Disgust warred with sorrow in his tone now. "I have no right to interfere. Not my job."

"No!" Diana begged as she slammed into a solid surface behind her. She couldn't go any further back. "This isn't right! She is too young!"

"And that makes me perfect bait." Janna replied. Diana was shaking her head in horror, but Janna was having none of it. "Do not bring my age into this, Tenno Diana. I have the right to act when I see an injustice occurring that will harm our kin. _Any_ Tenno does although we must be very careful. Tenno _do not_ fight Tenno except in Conclave. Tenno do not _kill_ Tenno." Her tone was stern, lecturing almost. "Do you deny this?"

"No." Diana's voice was small as she fought to recover her composure. "I cannot be party to something that I _know_ will hurt you." Janna flinched and Diana continued. "Janna... Think. Karl's Shadow won't accept me. They simply cannot."

"You would be surprised what they might accept." Nikis said with the ghost of a chuckle. "That dojo seems more an asylum at times. But they manage and Iriana is in good hands there. They will help her if it is remotely possible. Maybe even if it _isn't_."

"And adding an enemy -even a _blinded_ enemy- to the mix will _help_?" Diana demanded angrily. Then she froze as Janna coughed in warning. "Um... uh. I apologize for the discourtesy, Grandmaster." She bowed.

"You are stressed." Nikis allowed. "I will cut you some slack as a result, but it has limits." He warned. Diana nodded her thanks. "Saryn said she talked to you."

"Um, yeah." Diana kicked herself. Of course the _Grandmaster of the Dead_ would know if one of his charges has been out and about. "She was kind." She said weakly.

"She always was." Nikis' tone held old sorrow, old pain. "Want to talk to her again, all you have to do is ask. She said she would be willing to talk anytime. She likes you."

"I..." Diana swallowed. To be offered such an honor. To be able to converse with one of the _First_... She bowed her head. "I would be honored."

"You say that _now_." Nikis said with a laugh. "She has the tact of a stung grizzly bear when people are being stupid about stuff."

"If we are telling stories, Nikis, I can start on a few about _you_." A familiar voice sounded and Diana went still as a Saryn Prime warframe appeared beside Janna. "The two co-eds in the astronomy laboratory maybe?"

"That wasn't me." Nikis said severely.

"Yeah." Saryn was patently unimpressed by his glower. "Right."

"It wasn't!" Nikis insisted. "I was elsewhere!"

" _Right_." Saryn drawled the syllables of the word out and to Diana's amazement, Nikis _vanished_! Diana and Janna both looked at Saryn and the apprentice of the First Tenno laughed delightedly. "Oh yes, it _was_ him. He was _good_. Sneaky and he _did_ have an alibi. But he was only sixteen. Still a kid despite his warframe and duties. We _all_ knew it was him."

"I... don't want to know." Diana said quickly to muffled chuckles from Janna. "I mean, I am not one of his favorite people _already_. If I start learning his _secrets_..."

"He won't care as long as you don't try to use them against him." Saryn was sober now. "I am only going to say it once. **_Don't_**." She warned. Then she laughed again. "And it wasn't like the girls were _complaining_. It took three days for them to recover, but neither _complained_." She sighed. "At least... until they had to leave. Then oh my god, the _whining_ and _crying_."

"Nikis... with two girls..." Diana said slowly. "The mind _boggles_."

"He _is_ male, Diana." Saryn said with a snort. "But don't even think about it. Janet _would_ flay you. _Then_ she would get _mean_." Janna was looking at her and the Trinity's body language was speculating. "No, Janna. I _had_ a mate. _Have_ a mate." She shrugged. "But we all kept tabs on him. There were _never_ any complaints."

"Ever?" Janna asked, awed. Saryn shook her head. "Wow."

"Get your mind out of that gutter, young lady." Saryn chuckled to take the sting from her words. Janna matched her chuckle and Diana relaxed, which was probably the intention. "But Diana is right, you know. You are hideously vulnerable, Janna. For where you came from and how, you are progressing fast, but it _will_ take time. It will be years before you are ready to go into the field solo."

"We need to end this, Saryn!" Janna protested.

"Getting you killed or corrupted won't help matters." Diana said quietly as she stepped back to where she had been. She nodded to Saryn and knelt. The shade did as well, Janna kneeling beside her. "I have to say, I am touched that you would consider me a good sponsor, Janna. But I wouldn't be. Even if I wasn't blind, I was never a very good Tenno."

"You think I was perfect, Diana?" Saryn asked quietly.

"No." Diana admitted after a moment's thought. "It goes against the grain to say that. We are taught to revere our ancestors. But I know you were mortal once just like me." She scoffed. "I hope you didn't make the same mistakes I did."

"We all make mistakes, Diana." Janna said evenly. "Heaven knows I make more than my share. But this is not one. I need a sponsor. You need a reason to stay."

"'Stay'?" Diana asked. Janna looked at Saryn who waved for her to speak.

"Tell me true, sister." The youngest Tenno in the virtual environment said slowly. "If you were released right now, in the condition you are in, what would you do?" Diana stilled and Janna nodded. "I know. You cannot fight in your condition and you would consider yourself a burden on the rest of us. You would remove the burden. I won't allow it."

"Janna." Now, Diana's groan was almost a growl. "You have no right to gainsay such."

"No?" The young Tenno asked. "We have been _played_ , sister. Your group and my clan were put on this course. We need to figure out why and _who_ did it."

"That does not give you the right to deny me an honorable choice." Diana's words came out sharper than she intended but neither of the others reacted.

"No, it doesn't." Janna admitted. "But sister... We were pushed into this. Will you let whoever did this get away with it?"

"I..." Diana scowled at the Trinity. "How am I supposed to find them when I cannot _see?_ "

"None so blind as those who see." Saryn intoned softly. Both of the others stared at her and Saryn nodded. She put her thumbs to either side of her head and wagged her fingers at Diana. Then she put a thumb to where her nose would be under her faceplate. Janna was biting back a chuckle at her antics, but Diana just stared. Saryn chuckled at her expression. "I would stick out my tongue, but it would be wasted here and now with my faceplate closed."

"Making faces at me helps... how?" Diana asked, confused.

"How do you know I am making faces at you?" Saryn asked reasonably. "I mean, my faceplate is closed. I could be totally straight-faced." She waggled her fingers again.

"I can hear the laughter in... your voice." Diana paused and then she shook her head. "That won't work. Not in the real world."

"Why not?" Saryn asked.

"Well, because..." Diana broke off and then shook her head. "Because in the real world I am going to die as soon as they get off their duffs."

"And because you don't want it to." Saryn retorted.

"Hey!" Diana protested. "I don't want to die!"

"Janna here is offering you a way out and you are denying it." Saryn replied, her tone a hair from scornful. "Tell me how that is not being suicidal?"

"I won't put her at risk!" Diana nearly exploded, rising halfway to her feet. Neither of the others moved and she relaxed back to her kneeling position.

"That is not your choice." Janna said into the sudden silence that followed Diana's outburst. "I am _already_ at risk. As you say, I am vulnerable. The clan will protect me to the best of their ability, but Mom refuses to lock me in a Tower cell for the rest of my life. If someone like Viveka were to get hold of me... What would she do?"

"I..." Diana slumped, her whole posture resigned. "Warp you and twist you to follow her path. I won't. I _won't!_ "

"Diana." The younger Tenno said gently. "That is why I want you to sponsor me. I do believe you want to do the right thing. Not the easy thing, the _right_ thing. Tenno don't generally _do_ easy."

"Would be boring." Diana said weakly. "Janna, you do not know what you are saying." She begged.

"Diana." Saryn said gently. "She understands."

"She _can't_!" Diana snapped. "She _cannot_ understand. I serve the _Executor_! I do. I am sworn to serve her. I... Even if I wanted to abrogate that oath, what would I do as an oath-breaker?" She shook her head. "No one would trust me! They _couldn't_!"

"Trust must be earned." Saryn said softly. "Janna?"

"I know what you are, Diana." The Trinity said with a nod to Saryn. "I know what you _were_." Diana scoffed, but Janna wasn't done. "The only way to stop this before a _lot_ more blood gets spilled is to find out who implicated your group. To do _that_ , I need your help. And you need _mine_. I need a sponsor and _you_ need a reason to continue. Sight will not be needed. Neither of us is going to be striding into battle any time soon."

"Everyone devoutly _hopes_." Saryn muttered sotto voice.

"Janna!" Diana was losing patience. "You do not know what you are saying. I serve the Executor. If she orders me to kidnap you, I have to try. If she orders me to _kill_ you, I have to try." She shook her head. "I won't put you any further into her power. You have suffered enough at her hands."

"And you?" Janna asked softly. Diana looked at her and Janna shook her head. "What of you? Haven't you suffered enough?"

"Don't worry about me, Janna." Diana worked to make her voice kind. "Worry about yourself and Iriana. You don't know what I am."

"Yes, I do." Janna replied.

"You are an assassin."


	9. Chapter 9

**Professionalism**

Diana did not react to Janna's words.

"Ah, Janna..." Saryn said slowly. "You _do_ know the definition of 'assassin', right?" Janna looked at the shade and Saryn shrugged. "You _do_ know what Warrior Tenno _do_ , yes?"

Considering that Warrior Tenno had been sent on missions by the Lotus to assassinate enemies fairly frequently... Technically _every_ Warrior Tenno could be called that. Especially since they got paid for 'removing' high profile targets. Some even reveled in such titles. Not all, but some.

"No need to be sarcastic, Saryn." Janna had a frown in her voice when she responded. "Yes, I know both the common form and the historical from of the word." Diana did not move and Janna sighed. "It was not meant as an insult, Diana." The robed Tenno did not react and Janna slumped a bit. "A little help, Saryn?"

"Why?" Saryn asked snidely. "You are sticking your foot in your mouth neatly enough." Janna groaned and Saryn shook her head slowly. "Janna, you know better. I know people told you. She won't talk about it. She _can't_."

"That is not what I meant." Janna protested, then she looked at Diana and slumped a bit more. "I... You are right, Saryn. I am making a mess of this." She shook her head again. "Diana, I _do_ understand who you are and what you are. It was explained to me in great detail. I want to help."

"You can't." Diana said flatly. "Help yourself, Janna. That is the only person you can help. You cannot save me."

"Maybe not, but I want to try." The Trinity clad Tenno retorted. Her helmet looked away from the robed Tenno for a moment, but Diana did not react. The sensors in the warframe would give Janna almost 360 degree vision. "I need an answer to a question, Tenno Diana." She said after a moment's thought. "It is very important and it does not touch on what I just mentioned." Diana did not react and Janna sighed deeply. "Did you swear blood oaths to serve Executor Gilliananhorisa?"

"I do not see how that is any of your business." Diana snapped, patience fleeing. "I have made my position clear. You cannot help me. I cannot sponsor you because I will soon be _dead_." Janna seemed to wilt under her regard and Diana relaxed a bit. Janna bit back a sob and Diana unbent a bit more. "I thank you for the thought, Tenno Janna. But no. You..."

She broke off as someone new entered the virtual environment. The woman wasn't anyone that Diana knew, but her gown... Her gown _was_ something that Diana knew. It was a formal gown only worn by one group of people. _Orokin royalty!_ A Prime warframe -a Mag Prime- stepped into being right behind her. Diana didn't move. It couldn't be. Not _royalty_ with _Royal Guard!_ It simply wasn't possible!

"Janna." The newcomer stepped to the Trinity's side and laid a hand on the warframe's shoulder. "Easy. It is all right."

"I have messed everything up, Michelle!" Janna was one step from tears. "I just wanted to help and I screwed it all up."

"Yeah, you made a mess all right." Michelle said with a smile that faded as she looked at Diana who stared from her to the Mag Prime. That one had a hand on the Galatine sword that hung on her back and was not relaxed in the _slightest_. "But she is alive. This... If you planned this, _my_ mom will tell _your_ mom to turn you over her _knee_." Janna gulped but shook her head savagely.

"I didn't." Janna said quickly. "This... I just wanted to explain. To show I understood."

"Janna." Saryn was shaking her head even as Michelle did the same. "You are exhausted. Go rest. Meditate. Think on this and what you did." This was a command. Janna bowed her head and then nodded. Diana stared as the Trinity vanished. Saryn blew out a deep breath. "Another fine mess, huh, Princess?"

" _Prin-cess_...?" Diana said weakly.

"As Janna said, my name is Michelle." The newcomer said quietly. "Code Ouroboros." She said calmly and Diana relaxed a little. "We are not enemies today."

"Tomorrow is another day." Diana said slowly. Michelle smiled at her, but the smile did not touch her eyes. "Time waits for no being."

"All things change and reform." Michelle replied. "The cycle continues." Diana slumped and then relaxed fully as the woman recited the final part of the code phrase.

"You cannot be what you seem." Diana said with a snap. "It is just not possible." The Mag Prime stepped forward, but Michelle held up a hand and the warrior did not draw her sword. Her posture said she _wanted_ to.

"She is doing her job, Petra, same as _you_ would." Michelle's calm words held command and the Mag Prime retreated a step. She did _not_ take her hand from her sword hilt. "The situation is more than a bit unbelievable, but then again... You never _got_ the easy or predictable jobs, Rectifier-19."

"I... haven't been called that in a long time." Diana said slowly. "Not since... Graj..." She stiffened. "If I am being observed, I cannot..."

"Those who are watching are cleared for all that we are discussing." Michelle said quietly. "And right now? Those observing are my mother and her guards. No one else except _perhaps_ Nikis. And if he _is_? We both know _he_ can keep a secret." She smiled a bit ruefully.

"Your mother?" Diana felt faint. "An Empress? Truly?" She begged. Michelle nodded and to her horror, Diana felt her eyes burn. "I... I see."

"The Spira Primes were _dead_ giveaways to anyone who saw them." Michelle said flatly. "I am astonished no one else commented. Janna at least listened to most of what we said when she asked us what they were. She _does_ mean well."

"Yeah, she does." Diana was crying now, despite every attempt to hold the tears back. "Princess... I am sorry. I failed. I failed my duty. I failed my Executor. And now? My life is forfeit for something I didn't _do_."

"Diana, what more could you have _done_?" Michelle asked reasonably. "Die _yourself_? Graj's ship ran afoul of a _horde_ of Infested. From the report, there was no way to escape and no way for reinforcements to get to you. It was wondered if that was planned." Diana looked at her and Michelle shook her head. "No proof either way but according to every record and everyone who knew him, he was one of the good ones. One of the ones who really believed in doing the right thing no matter the cost. By the time he died, the chaos was too rampant to stop."

"Yes." Diana's voice was nearly inaudible. "We did what we could."

"I know." Michelle's voice was soft. "But that leaves us with you. Do you _want_ to die?" Diana started to protest but Michelle held up a hand. "Honest answer, agent."

"I..." Diana slumped again. "Yes." Her voice was small. "Too much. Too often. I wouldn't wish what I did on anyone. It had to be done, and better me than most."

"Yeah." Saryn's voice held old pain, old resignation now. "Better us than most. When the perpetrator is above the law. When they have money or power enough to openly flout even Orokin law. When they cannot be touched any other way... They need people like us." Diana looked at her and Saryn nodded. "I didn't want the job, but I was good at it."

"I know the feeling." Diana muttered.

"When the political costs of removing someone from a position of power legally were too high..." Michelle spoke. "There was another recourse." She shook her head. "But what Graj did to you... He had no _right_." Outrage sang in her tone now.

"Secrets had to be kept." Diana protested weakly. "The programming was not a slave collar."

"The programming is not what I am talking about." Michelle snapped and Diana stared at her. "What he did when you were _recruited_. It was hushed up. But the Royal Archives had records. I am sorry, Diana."

"It is a valid technique." Diana said softly.

"He made you and your brother fight to the _death_!" Michelle snarled and Diana recoiled a little. "He had no _right_ to do that." Diana was shaking her head, but Michelle was having none of it. "Training accident, my ass. Making you destroy your brother's energy was uncalled for."

"I..." Diana was crying again as old pain surged to the fore again. Saryn leaned close, offering support. "There could be only one. We both knew that. But he didn't defend himself when I struck. He should have. He was better than me. I didn't... I didn't expect what happened. Then the warframe. The job had to be done. I did it."

"You did an awful job with skill and dedication." Michelle was quiet, sad. "No one outside of you and the Empress will ever know how many times your special talents were called for. That is the way it will remain." This was a command and Diana nodded. "Gilliananhorisa did not know who and what you really were. No one did until Janna asked about your knives. Point is that others were there. Others heard what she said. Intelligence is curious."

"They always are." Diana said sourly enough that both Saryn and Michelle chuckled. There was no mirth however.

"We have a problem, Tenno Diana." Michelle said with a frown. Diana looked at her and Michelle shook her head. "Gilliananhorisa is a known quantity and... according to Intelligence, an asset."

" _What_?" Diana felt faint suddenly. Gilliananhorisa worked for _Intelligence_? That wasn't possible. Was it?

"Keeping secrets is what Intelligence does." Michelle said with a grunt. Saryn made noise of disgust as Michelle nodded. "Another nasty job. Needed, but nasty. Problem is, the weapon that was used... It came from an Intelligence stockpile." Diana stiffened and Michelle nodded. "Yeah."

"That is... No." Diana breathed. "That cannot be." If _Intelligence_ had killed Karl, had tried to kill iriana... 'Oh crap' didn't _begin_ to cover that. Such a revelation could tear Tenno society apart.

"They are 'investigating'." Michelle made quotes in the air around the last word. "Honest question, Rectifier-19. Can we trust them?"

Diana let her mind fall into ancient patterns. Patterns she hadn't used since she had woken from cryo. Parts of her memory were blank from the cryo-nesia, but the rest of it clicked as always. Emotion fell away. Information slotted into place and then she shook her head.

"No." Diana said flatly. "As you say, keeping secrets is their job. Even if -by some miracle-someone managed to steal the weapon, they shouldn't have been able to use it. Whoever used it either had the codes or the knowhow to circumvent said codes."

"They also had Iriana's DNA to key it." Michelle said quietly. Diana frowned but nodded. "So... Who was the target and why."

"Iriana was the target if it was keyed to her." Diana responded quickly. "But Gillie said she hadn't intended such. She admitted that the weapon was one of hers. Are you certain that it was from an Intelligence stockpile?"

"Energy residue was collected and analyzed." Michelle said flatly. "99.654% match to the weapon in our records."

"That is pretty conclusive." Diana nodded, her face grave. "Gillie is good, but stealing such a thing from an _Intelligence_ stockpile is beyond her abilities." She paused. "Viveka could have done it."

"Would Viveka know how to activate it?" Saryn asked reasonably. Diana thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Shaun would." Diana did not react and Saryn sighed. "Diana, we are both cleared."

"This was _never_ supposed to be talked about." Diana complained. "Discussing it here, when I have _no_ idea how many people might be listening in, is giving me the _creeps_."

"The old saying goes 'Two people can keep a secret if one of them is _dead_. Unless one is a politician'." Michelle said with a smile that Diana tremulously shared. "Point is, Janna does know what you were. So do other people now." Diana stiffened and Michelle nodded. "That may not change anything. The cyborg who hurt you was apparently acting on an ancient program put into him by his creator. Until and unless we can get the Elders to authorize a clone or get you to where _I_ am, you are blind. They think you are a murderer."

"I never killed Tenno." Diana said flatly.

"No." Michelle agreed. "But other Rectifiers _did_. Using the same kind of weapons that killed Karl. Only when ordered." She hastened to say when Diana bristled. "I _will_ say this for Graj. As brutal as he could be, he never used you unless all other recourse had been exhausted. I _wish_ I could say the same for some of his contemporaries."

"Every time, he would sit down and talk to me before and after." Diana said quietly. "We both looked for alternatives and we often found them. It was needed, but that never made it _right_."

"Or easy to live with." Saryn agreed. Diana looked at her and the shade nodded. "Not all of my descendants did what I did. You made me proud, girl." Diana looked away. "Diana, you did a hard job well. A certain amount of pride is justified."

"So what now?" Diana asked. "I mean, if my cover is blown, I cannot defend myself."

"Karl's Shadow are cleared and have proven themselves trustworthy. So, we do something nearly unprecedented." Michelle said firmly.

"We tell them the truth."

* * *

Diana woke to silence. She opened her eyes and of course, saw nothing. Her arm and side were numb. Not a good sign, but she was alive.

"Hello?" She called and Alicia's voice answered her.

"Welcome back, Diana." The clan medic said quietly. "We just got Iriana to bed about ten minutes ago. Are you thirsty?" Diana realized she was dry as a bone.

"Parched." Diana admitted. A straw found her lips and she sipped. The water tasted better than any alcoholic beverage she had ever partaken of. She drank slowly and carefully. After several sips, she stopped drinking and the straw was removed. "Alicia, who else is here?"

"Jumper is curled up on a counter." Alicia said dryly. "Not sure if he is awake or not. Not going to poke him to find out. I like my fingers unclawed."

"This is for both of you." Diana said quietly. "Code 'Trojan'." There was utter silence in the room. "Countersign?"

"Countersign is 'Achilles'." Alicia sounded hushed. "Holy shit. They IDed the weapon?"

"They did and this is going to be bad on toast." Diana swallowed hard. "All hell is going to break loose. But there is something I need to do. Now. Is your warlord available?"

"I can get her." Alicia sounded upset and who could blame her? That code was about a possible break or traitor within the ranks of Intelligence. Not a pleasant thought. At _all_.

"Please do." Diana said softly as she stretched the little she could. "I also need to talk to Janna."

"Are you okay?" Jumper's voice preceded the cat landing on the bed beside her and a small furred head nuzzling her hand. She rubbed it.

"No." Diana admitted. "I have been silent so long, classified so long. I was told to come clean. That all of you can be trusted. But it goes against the grain."

"By who?" Alicia asked, concerned.

"Michelle." Diana said simply and Alicia hissed. "Yeah. She had every code. She gave authorization and the codes she gave came straight from the top. I feel weird, but it isn't physical."

"Diana?" Warlord Tiana's voice came close. "You asked to talk to me?"

"Yes." Diana felt calm now. It was odd. She wasn't whole. She was blind and hurt and confined to the bed. But she felt safe too. "I was informed of some of the secrets your clan has held. I was authorized to speak to you and yours. But first..." She held out a hand. "Sister to sister. Yours in life and death."

Sudden silence reigned as she spoke ancient, holy words. Supposedly, the First Tenno had greeted new members with those words.

"Diana..." Tiana was hushed, awed. "Are you _sure_?"

"No." Diana held her hand up even when it started to shake. Another hand, an armored one, took it and held it gently. "I have been alone so long, I don't know if I can do the clan thing. I will do my best." The hand holding hers gave a twitch.

"Of course you will." Tiana replied. Then she finished the invocation. "Sister to sister. Yours in life and death." That made Diana a member of the clan and all sorts of people would have problems with that. From her tone, Tiana was _not_ one of them. "Jimmy hurt you, but it wasn't his fault. He was programmed by his creator to do such. We never _had_ female prisoners _here_ before. No one even suspected. Olim blames himself, but he is not perfect any more than any of the rest of us are."

"No, not his fault." Diana agreed. "Michelle and Saryn explained." More silence and Diana smiled as the hand holding hers twitched. "I need to talk to Janna. I owe her an explanation."

"You owe me nothing." Janna had been crying. That was clear from her voice. Diana turned her head to where the voice was coming from. "I... I messed up."

"You went too fast and you didn't have the proper codes." Diana agreed. "That could have been very bad for you. I was trained to fight and kill in such environments, Janna. You are not. Yet anyway. Saryn would have protected you, but it was still rash." Janna did not respond and Diana slumped a bit. "Thank you."

"For what?" Janna asked, obviously fighting for control.

"For showing trust to someone like me." Diana said sadly. "I didn't remember what such was. So long unable to trust anyone. It took both Saryn and Michelle to get through to me. But for now... You asked a question. I am giving an answer. I did not swear blood oaths to Gilliananhorisa. But I swear one now." Again, silence. "By Blood and by Steel, you will be safe in my care. I will teach you what I know. Just... not _all_ that I know."

"Diana..." Janna sounded in tears again.

"Come here." Diana commanded. The hand holding hers let go and another took hold. "You won't always like me. There will be times I scare you or infuriate you. But I will make sure you are trained. I accept your request. I will sponsor you." The hand holding hers jerked spasmodically before Janna could control herself and Diana frowned.

"But right now? We have a bigger mess to deal with."


	10. Chapter 10

**In the Line of Duty  
**

"And that is all I know."

Diana slumped back onto the bed, drained by this whole unreal situation. Janna had not let go of her hand even as other people had streamed into the room. Tiana had introduced everyone, but Diana wasn't sure she would remember the names. Especially when she couldn't put a face to said names.

"This is a lot to take in." Tiana said slowly. "Alicia? Jumper?"

"We wondered." For once, Jumper's voice held no humor at all. "I mean, the fact that Iriana and Janna were taken from a place that was impossible to find and _nearly_ impossible to _get to_ was a blatant red flag. That fact that _Nikis_ of all people could not track them after? Worse."

"Yeah." Alicia sounded subdued and who could blame her. This was her group they were taking about being rogue. Or... part of it. "I know that we could track such things and block such traces. But to do so... To take Iriana and Janna..."

"They could have hurt me worse." Janna said softly as Diana squeezed her hand. "Then I forced them to hurt Iriana." Daina gave her hand a shake.

"Janna." Diana said sternly. "Don't do that to yourself. _None_ of what happened was _your_ fault, so stop it. Self recrimination is pointless. We will go over everything in detail later. For now? We have a problem."

"I'll say." Tiana agreed. "If a splinter of Intelligence _is_ behind the Rising, then we are at war with Intelligence."

"Not all of it." Diana hurried to say as several people started to speak. "Most of Intelligence is people gathering information, no more. Gathering information is their job. Everything else is secondary."

"And you?" A male voice sounded from nearby. Which one was that? Olim? Quais? Diana couldn't remember. "I am Quais. It will take a bit to remember us all. Don't worry about it." He said with a smile in his voice.

"Me?" Diana asked. "I wanted an end, but Saryn and Michelle jerked me up short. I was wallowing in self pity and that is _not_ what Tenno do. We have a duty to humanity as a whole." She heaved a sigh. "Janna humbled me quite a bit." An indrawn breath from the girl and Diana smiled. "I had been focused on what I did for so long. Gillie knew I was a servant of the Executors, but she never asked what it was that I did. Shaun knew but never said." No one spoke and Diana nodded. "Yes, he too was a Rectifier. Is. Each Executor had one Tenno assigned specifically to 'rectify' things. Only one."

"For situations that could not be resolved any other way." Janna spoke over murmurs that started.

"Not all of them used us as they should have." Diana said sadly. "Graj was furious about some of what his contemporaries did. But what could he do? He was one man and I was one Tenno. Against _all_ of Orokin?" She sighed in memory. "We did what we could. It wasn't enough."

"Are you sure he is dead?" Tiana asked. Diana bowed her head. "I am sorry, Diana but right now, we have far too many questions and no answers."

"He is dead." Diana said flatly. "The ship was disabled. Infested had swarmed through it. I don't know if they came from a supply ship, or something else. The first I knew of the attack was when alarms went off. I was fighting seconds after that. I fought to Graj's side and we held them off for a time. But we couldn't hold them off forever. He ordered me to sanitize the ship when he went down. I... I did."

"Oh Diana..." Janna's voice held horror.

"He was dead." Diana continued as if she hadn't head Janna. "The others had all fallen, were being subsumed. He commanded me to clear the ship. I used the ship's power systems to power my warframe and I did. When I was done, there was nothing left. Not even ash. No chance of spores. I burned everything down to the bare hull plates. After that, I made my way to my Liset and flew away. I think the Lotus guided me to a cryopod, I certainly wasn't cognizant enough to have done it myself. And there I slept until Gillie and Shaun woke me." She shook her head. "Graj is dead and we were too far from any database access for him to merge with it. Not that he would have. He considered it a mockery of life."

"Okay." Tiana said with a grunt. "So, we have a possible rogue faction within Intelligence. _Joy_. Alicia?"

"Diana gave me a protocol that I prayed I would never hear." Alicia sounded subdued. "The Trojan protocol means that someone inside our organization is acting without orders from the top. That means that _no one f_ rom Intelligence can be trusted until we find our traitor or mole. Not even _me_."

"Alicia..." Another male voice that Diana couldn't quite place.

"No, Will. This is nothing personal or derogatory." Alicia's voice firmed. "I have been subverted twice. That makes me a risk. Jumper? You are outside our structure. Will you take point on this?"

"You know what you are asking me to do." Jumper said softly. His warm mass had nestled beside Diana. She laid the hand that Janna wasn't holding down beside him. He nuzzled it.

"We need oversight we can trust, Jumper." Alicia scoffed. "And this doesn't involve _fish_."

"You _would_ bring that up." Jumper complained as more than one of the others chuckled. Diana scratched his ears and he gave along drawn out sigh. "I accept this burden." He said formally. "I will act as liaison. The Lotus?"

"I will talk to her." Tiana sounded more than a bit dubious. "She will likely want to talk to Diana."

"I am-" Diana snarled as her mouth split in a huge yawn. "I am available, Warlord."

"You are _exhausted_." Tiana replied evenly. "We have kept you up for three hours listening to your tale. You need real rest or Iriana will flay us when she wakes." The hand holding hers gave a squeeze as Diana shook her head. "Don't argue with me, Diana. We need to see about fixing what Jimmy did."

"I know I need rest." Diana admitted. "But I am part of this clan now. Where you go, I go. I am Tenno. I serve." A murmur of approval sounded.

"Hail Tenno." Tiana said mildly. "But I am not going to cross the Healer. Jumper, if you would?"

"Yeah, right." The cat said with glee. "Give me the _hard_ jobs."

Diana stiffened as his mass moved. Suddenly, he was on her chest and before she could protest, a wonderful sound was permeating through her. She struggled, but it was no use. She was trying not to smile as the cat's purrs ushered her into sleep.

 _Sneaky cat..._

* * *

Elsewhere

Diana jerked as she fell out of dreams of soft purrs and landed on her feet in a large golden walled room. She stared around herself and sighed. Since it was virtual, she could see and she knew where she was.

"I might have known." She focused herself and the form she wore in this virtual environment changed from robed Tenno to Saryn warframe. Her knives and sword hung ready. "Was _anything_ you told me true?" She asked one wall snidely.

"All of it was." Gillie's voice was subdued as she appeared nearby. But not alone. Oh no. The massive form of Shaun stood in front of her, his Tonbo held ready. The knives at his side matched Diana's. Stood to reason, he had the same job she had once. "If we are talking about omissions, _you_ never told me what _you_ were."

"I assumed you knew." Diana retorted. "Or that you ordered Shaun to tell you." Shaun did not move as Diana laid a hand on her sword hilt. "I am not your servant now."

"No." Gillie nodded. "You were never happy with me. I didn't understand why. Now I do. Will you be happy with them? They hurt you."

" _Nicholas_ hurt me." Diana snapped and then she paused. " _You_ didn't have anything to do with him, did you?"

"No." Gillie said quietly. "He was renegade Tenno. He wouldn't have given me the time of day or would have tried to kill me as soon as I showed up and I knew it. I stayed away from him and he from me. We had...differing goals."

"Yeah." Diana said sourly. "He wanted to rule and so did you. Hard for both to do at the same time."

"I _don't_ want to rule, Diana." Gillie said firmly. "But I don't have a choice now. No one else can handle the burden. If Graj had survived, I would have trusted him to. But no one else. The Grineer will be destroyed. The Corpus likewise. Humanity will _rise_ from the ashes of Orokin to take its rightful place again."

"And the Infested?" Diana snapped. "And the _Sentients?_ " She demanded angrily. "What of _them?_ They will just stand by and _watch_ while you destabilize everything? I think not. All you will do is cause more horror and death. For what?" She clasped her hands in front of her chest and Shaun recoiled, moving to shield Gillie with his bulk.

"Diana." Shaun warned. "Don't."

"We serve." Diana said slowly. "Tenno and Executor alike! We were supposed to _serve!_ Not rule! Orokin was crumbling around us! You saw it. The chaos. The horror. The death and destruction." Gillie bowed her head. "And now you want to do it _again_?" The Saryn demanded.

"No." Gillie said sadly. "I have no choice."

"You _had_ a choice." A new voice had everything stopping as a battered white Loki Prime warframe appeared beside Diana. "You chose your path."

"Sun..." Diana breathed. The Loki Prime was a _mess_. The armor was rent and torn and fluid seeped out in places. But his posture was firm as he drew his Bo Prime staff and moved to flank Diana. "What happened?"

"I tried to bring them back in from the cold." Sun said softly. "I failed."

"I cannot let you stop what must be done." Gillie said sadly. "You left me no choice."

"What _must_ be done?" Diana snapped. "Or what you _want_ to do? Executors are _not_ rulers. They never _were_! They didn't have the training _or_ the experience! You don't know what you are _doing!_ "

"Save your breath, girl." Sun advised Diana. "You will need it."

He moved to flank the pair and Shaun dropped his Effigy. The Chroma moved to block the Loki's advance. The Effigy blocked Diana's view of Gillie even as the Executor drew a white pistol of some kind. Not one Diana knew. Diana dropped her Molt and stepped to flank the Chroma on the _other_ side as the Effigy focused on the Molt. He couldn't defend against _both_ of them. But he would try. It was what he was.

"If we fight here, no one wins." Gillie pleaded. "Please. Join me, Diana. We can end this, save humanity."

"And who will save it from _you?_ " Diana snarled as her hand dropped to her knives. A corkscrew bladed dagger slid into her hand and she took aim even as the Executor did.

"You don't _understand!_ " Gillie pleaded as a golden shield of energy appeared in front of her. Scant protection against such a weapon as Diana wielded. Her knives had been _designed_ to defeat such Orokin defenses.

Diana was about to throw her blade when all hell broke loose.

* * *

 _Who the_ **hell** _?_

That the only thought Diana managed to make as at least five forms simply _appeared_ in the middle of the almost battle. In form, they were warframes. But... not. The helmets were not anything she had ever seen on a warframe. Indeed, they looked more like _Stalker_ than any Tenno she had ever seen.

Sun blinked into invisibility but then he was visible again and two of the forms converged on him, a rapier and claw cutting at the Interrogator's warding staff while a Lacera tried to disarm him, leave him open for a killing blow. The Chroma and Executor were being harried by two more but Sun was Diana's concern. He was hurt already.

Diana moved to assist the ancient Tenno Interrogator and found herself engaged with a form out of nightmare. The red and black armored being seemed to be using a Valkyr power, Hysteria. Blood red claws of energy had sprouted from the beings hands and wrists anyway. Diana's power seemed to have no effect when she threw it. Spores _did_ grow on her target, but they seemed to do no damage. She punctured one with a Spira and the effect spread to the others close by. Shouts of pain heralded damage being done, but she focused on her opponent who was charging her. She had her blade out and was parrying wildly as the claws dove in, seeking to rend and tear.

She managed a couple of solid strike after successfully parrying attacks, but that only seemed to anger her opponent. Then it happened. Diana bit back scream as the claws found a hole in her defenses. They tore through her armor as if it didn't exist and she was falling. She stared up at the red and black almost-a-warframe and it drew back to end her existence. If she died here, her energy would be unrecoverable. The misshapen form started a swing and-

 _ **ENOUGH!**_ The voice roared like thunder across the battlefield and everything stopped as a pair of forms simply appeared beside Diana. One held a hand over her and green mist fell as the other stepped forward. The red and black form with the claws tried to attack, but a golden Orthos Prime blocked her.

Diana stared. The form defending her was a Rhino. A white Rhino warframe. But... not. It looked different. The one standing over her was an Excalibur. But... not. Neither were prime warframes although they had gold in places. Both had ornate surcoats over their armor, but the insignia was nothing Diana knew. She didn't know them but they felt familiar. Both of them. She flipped to her feet, sword in hand, but the battle was nearly over. Sun had one of his opponents down, the other firmly on the defensive. She stared as the Orthos Prime slashed once, twice and the red and black form that had hurt her gave a screech and fell to lie still. The other two lay crumpled near Shaun who didn't move.

 _Easy, sister._ The not-quite-an-Excalibur beside her drew a sword that was not -quite- a Skana and moved to flank her as Diana moved to where Gillie stood, face pale.

"You would destroy everything because you _can_?" Diana didn't scream that. Indeed her voice was flat. Diana did not look at him as she drew her throwing blades. "You are no better than _these_ ravening monsters!" She indicated the fallen red and black forms with one blade.

"The demons got to you." Gillie was sad, so sad. "I am sorry, Diana. I failed you too. I will _not_ fail humanity!" Her form wavered. She was fleeing!

"You arrogant _bitch!_ " Diana did scream as she threw her blade. Too late. Gillie had vanished. Shaun's crumpled form did as well. Diana spun, but no one else was present except Sun who had fallen to one knee, obviously hurt. "Grandmaster!" She rushed to his side, but he waved her away.

"This is... my responsibility." Sun's voice was weak and halting as he levered himself up to his feet with his staff. "I... will make a full report." Diana went still as Sun reached out a slow hand to touch her helmet. "Nikis was right. You _are_ more than you were. A hard road, Tenno. But you are up to walking it. I will... be long recovering. But I _will_ recover. Thank you for your aid."

"I didn't." Diana said weakly as Sun knelt into seiza. "I didn't fight as I should and she got _away_!"

"She is _not_ the true enemy here." Sun was shaking in effort as he focused. "Seek them, Tenno. You will know them when you find them. When you _do_ find them, do your duty Rectifier."

"I..." Diana stared at the mangled Loki and then bowed formally. "I will." He nodded once and vanished. She knelt slowly and carefully only to pause as someone else spoke.

"Leaving so soon?" Diana looked and a human woman stood near one wall of the large room. Diana's eyes went huge as she took in the other's immaculate white robe and the headdress that covered her face down to her mouth. Not one of Amelia's Voices. Diana had never seen the garb herself but she had seen records of it. Of the formal wear worn by Oracles. Precognitives of the Orokin Empire.

"Oracle..." Diana stopped herself. "You cannot aid me." It wasn't a question. The woman shook her head. "Then why are you here?" Her words might have been bitter or sarcastic once. Now? She was just tired.

"Because you need to know that you are not alone." The woman stepped to where Diana knelt and knelt in front of her. She reached out to take Diana's hands in her own unarmored ones. "You have walked in darkness, _done_ darkness, but _you_ are not darkness. You know this."

"Sometimes." Diana admitted. "It is hard."

"I know." The Oracle said sadly. "I too did what was needed before I became an Oracle and yes, at times, that required killing. There was never any other recourse, but it still weighs on me to this day. The lives I ended." Diana bowed her head. "I can give you no advice but this. You are not alone now, Diana. Your clan will help. Be true to the Code, Tenno and beware. The darkness you faced here is only one facet of the Shadow that is growing." Diana looked at her and the Oracle chuckled. "This is common knowledge or it will be soon. No kibbitzing from me. Only comfort can I give right now."

"I am afraid." Diana said in a tiny voice that broke. The Oracle reached up and pulled her into a hug. Diana did not resist as the Oracle held her.

"I know." The Oracle soothed the now crying Tenno as Diana wept out her pain and frustration. "And I am sorry."

"But it is only going to get worse."


	11. Chapter 11

**Sightless**

"Iriana, enough." Diana said calmly as the Healer snarled yet again. " _I_ am all right. _You_ need to calm down."

The Healer made a noise that was halfway between a groan and a sigh. Then she blew out a deep breath. It had been fairly stressful when Iriana had woken. Diana had woken from her nap and been sent on another. Again, not by choice. She had promised Jumper that if he did it to her _again_ without her consent she could pluck his tail one hair at a time and the cat had wisely absconded. Then Iriana had woken and the battle that Diana had been involved in fighting beside Sun in the virtual environment _paled_ in comparison to the Healer's anger at not being there when Diana had explained. Every member of the clan had found other things to do when Iriana had swept in and taken charge.

"I... do." Iriana said softly. "I am a mess, Diana. Janna is trying and she is helping a great deal, but the link we forged cannot be broken easily. If at all."

"And is this a bad thing?" Diana asked, turning her blind eyes to where the other's voice was coming from. "She is not stupid, Healer. Impulsive, yes. Stupid, no."

"Thin line there." Diana smiled as the Healer chuckled ."And I have been known to stray over it myself."

"You don't _say_." Diana put just the right aspect of disbelief in her words and Iriana actually laughed. A first since she had woken.

"You are _bad_ , Warrior." Iriana said with feeling as machinery started whirring nearby. "Ready to try again?"

Diana grimaced but nodded. She laid her head back onto the pillow as pressure mounted across her face. The apparatus wasn't uncomfortable, it was just _there_. Nothing hurt, Iriana had worked hard to keep anything form causing discomfort. It felt _strange_ , whatever the machinery was doing to her eyes and nerves, but it didn't _hurt_. But from the Healer's muted curses, it wasn't doing what she wanted either. Diana gamely stuck it out. There really wasn't anything else she could do. Finally, the hum died and the machinery was removed from Diana's face.

"Nothing." Iriana sounded in tears. "Diana, I am sorry."

"This is _not_ your fault." Diana said severely. "Do _not_ blame yourself. Do not blame Jimmy. He wasn't in control of his body. You know this."

"Yeah." Iriana's voice was sad and soft now. "I had hoped it would be easy to fix, but Nicholas was nothing if not a planner. _Creep_." Now her voice held hate. "So many lives destroyed and for what? To _rule_?"

"Iriana." Diana held up her hand and it was grasped. "He paid for his crimes. Everyone blames themselves for missing this trap, but honestly, who could have seen such a thing coming? This was evil and it was not you who did it." She gave the hand holding hers a squeeze. "I can see in virtual environments, so that is a plus. The nerves connections are working."

"Your eyes just refuse to reconnect." Iriana agreed sadly. It wasn't supposed to be reversible, that blinding. I guess... a clone."

"Iriana." Diana said quietly.

"We can shift your energy into a cloned body." Iriana continued as if Diana hadn't spoken. "The procedure won't take long and..."

"Iriana." Diana said again, this time squeezing the Healer's hand. The Healer broke off and Diana continued. "They won't let you do it."

" _They_ are not here." Iriana snapped. " _They_ can kiss my-" She broke off as Diana gripped her hand tightly. "Diana."

"Your mind is clouded with anger, Healer." Diana said sadly. "What happened to Janna and you _and_ what happened to me... All of it at once is overwhelming you. Iriana... Let me help you. You and Janna both. I can. If you let me."

"Diana, you are still sick." Iriana said softly. "You need rest."

"My sister and her daughter are in _pain_." Diana said sternly. "I can help. Let me." She demanded. There was no answer and Diana slumped a bit. "Please?" She begged.

"None of the techniques work." Iriana said softly. "I cannot move past this."

"That is because it is not _your_ problem." Diana said sternly. "Janna and you _both_ need help. Neither of you can see the problem. Neither can Brianna, can she?"

"How do you know that?" Iriana asked, curious. "She won't break doctor-patient confidentiality unless one of us was suicidal and neither of us is."

"You merged energy with Janna." Diana nodded slowly. "I spoke to her a little. She told me some. You got bits of her mind and she got bits of yours. The bits she got were enough to shortcut the process to turn her into energy. Into Tenno."

"Which could have been very bad except the clan stepped in to help her." Iriana had a soft smile in her voice now. "No one expected her to choose the Warrior's path though."

"She wanted to defend you." Diana shrugged. "It's odd, but no odder than many things these days. "Iriana... I can help. I have seen such energy bindings before."

" _You_ have." The Healer was trying very hard not to sound disbelieving.

"It was bad." Diana sighed in sad memory. "The records were all sealed. The two involved found their way with help. But then, the ones who had caused it killed them both." Now her voice turned flat. "I won't let that happen again."

"You were involved." Iriana's soft words were not a question.

"I followed instructions. I led them along the path they needed to take to find what they sought." Diana agreed. "And when they were killed, I was authorized to rectify the situation. I did."

"Rectify." Iriana said slowly. "An...interesting choice of words as a description."

"It was my job and I was good at it." Diana said calmly. "But that experience means that I _can_ help you and Janna. It won't be easy, but I can. If you let me. _And_ if you let me out of the bed." She grinned.

"Your leg is regenerated." Iriana sounded both relieved and more worried. Diana felt gentle fingers checking her leg. It felt as it should. "You will be able to stand. And knowing Warriors, you _will_ walk on it even if it isn't sane to do so."

"I _will_ need a bit of time, Healer." Diana said slowly. "I need to talk to Grandmaster Nikis."

"Nikis?" Iriana demanded. "Why?"

"I have a question that I think only he can answer."

* * *

A bit later

"You look better."

Nikis' voice was quiet and Diana did not turn her head at the sound of his voice. She was focused on bending her leg as the Healer had ordered her.

"I feel better." Diana replied as she finished the stretches and laid her leg back down on the bed. "Grandmaster." She nodded to where his voice came from. "I apologize for not greeting your properly..."

"Don't _start_ the overly formal BS, girl." Nikis groaned halfheartedly. "Sun told me what happened. He is a bit miffed."

"Yeah." Diana slumped a bit. "Gillie and Shaun got away. I don't know how badly Shaun was hurt. He was. Those...things were not Tenno, but they fought as Tenno."

"They are being called 'Shadow Acolytes'." Nikis replied, his voice coming closer. "They claim to be following 'The Shadow' and _one_ guess who _that_ might be."

"The red and black armor was kind of a giveaway." Diana replied evenly. "Grandmaster... I was told some of what happened. Are we sure Iriana's mate is not him anymore?"

"Nothing in life is 100% sure." Nikis had a shrug in his voice now. "But every test says he isn't who he was. We are watching, but he is showing no signs of anything out of the ordinary. Just a memory blanked Tenno."

"When _**that**_ is _ordinary_ , life is _strange_." Diana complained a bit whimsically and was rewarded with a small laugh from Nikis. "Grandmaster Nikis. Did Sun see the two who protected me?"

"He didn't get a good look." Nikis sounded perturbed now. "He said they were not quite a Rhino and an Excalibur. But he _did_ see an Orthos Prime. I don't believe in ghosts, girl."

"Neither do I." Diana agreed. "Whatever those were, they had physical forms." She paused. "At least in the virtual world they did." She shook her head. "This is weird. _Way_ weird, even for _me_."

"Welcome to _my_ world." Nikis chuckled sourly. "Check your sanity at the _door_ , you _won't_ need it." Diana chuckled as well, but then she sobered.

"They aided me, Grandmaster Nikis." Diana said quietly. "One stood beside me when I braced Gillie. She seemed to recognize them. At least, I think so. She said the 'demons' had me. So... Something to do with the Zarimon children?"

"Wouldn't know." Nikis replied. "I have little to do with them and I like it that way. They give me the creeps."

"I bet the feeling is mutual." Diana froze. She hadn't intended to say such a thing to the Grandmaster of the Dead but Nikis just laughed.

"Probably." Nikis sounded relaxed now. "Was that what you wanted?"

"Part of it." Diana replied. "Janna and Iriana have merged. Janna is dealing fairly well with it. Iriana is not."

"I ain't a shrink." Nikis sounded worried now and Diana could relate. "I can't help them."

"No, you can't." Diana chose her next words carefully. He life might very well ride on this. "Were you apprised of the situation on Callisto when the 'Harkeners' tried to force the change on a human?" There was utter silence in the room and Diana licked her lips. "Very few knew what happened there." She froze as a hand touched her cheek. "Grandmaster?"

"That was _you_?" Nikis' voice sounded odd. Husky?

"Yeah." Diana said sadly as the finger stroked her cheek. It was oddly soothing, that feeling. It wasn't erotic in any way, just comforting. "Poor kids didn't have a chance. I did what I could. It wasn't enough."

"He was madder than hell." Nikis said softly. "But not with you. You did _everything_ you could. You would have been well within your rights to kill them both when you found them. Neither of them would have protested as hurt as they were. You chose to help them instead. Not your fault things turned out as they did and you did settles those nuts' hashes but good, after."

"Wasn't enough." Diana said sadly. "They were less than a decade old, the both of them!"

"Yeah." Nikis sounded old and tired now. "They took advantage, stole the human boy from his parents, stole Nicolai from _his_. We put safeguards in after so it wouldn't happen again. Too little,..."

"Too late." Diana chorused with the Grandmaster. She continued when he did not. "But that means I know how to help them. Supervised of course."

"He is a little weird even for one of us." Nikis said mildly. Diana just turned her blind eyes at him and he chuckled. "Right. The pot and the kettle in that."

"If you don't mind, Nikis... I think I need to talk to WhiteHorse again." There was silence again and then Diana stiffened as she felt energy building nearby. She remained silent as a hum built and then peaked.

"Who dares summon the scion of the plains?" A new voice sounded irate nearby. A powerful and angry voice. "This is unseemly! Return me at..." He paused and his voice changed. Resignation mixed with amusement. "Oh. Hi, Nikis."

"'Scion of the _plains_ '?" Nikis asked, sounding somewhere between amused and dumbfounded. "You did _not_ just say that."

"Bite me, ya old fart." The other retorted. Then he spoke again. "What is... _Diana?_ " He demanded. "What the _hell_ happened to you?"

"It's a long story, Jon." Diana said with a smile that faded. "I can't see, but I am recovering otherwise."

"Nicholas' evil hurt yet another Tenno." Nikis sounded calm, but Diana knew he was angry. Not with her, but with the now gone evil renegade who had caused so much horror.

"And I can't touch you." Jon sounded sick now. "Ah... Diana."

"The blindness may or may not be permanent, Jon." Diana said quietly. 'The rest of it is healing. I am not the problem here, Jon. Gillie said the database had been altered but not how or why. It was still there, but inaccessible."

"Yeah." Nikis grunted. "The shades all sleep now."

"Unless ancient and arrogant Nekros decide to wake us up." Jon sounded amused as Nikis growled at him. "Right back at ya, ya aged menace." Diana had to smile at the interplay. Same Jon. Then again, his shade had come when she had asked for help. He had died centuries before the Collapse. "What do you need, Diana?"

"Two more are going through what Timmy and Nicolai did." Diana said, her throat tight. "Gillie didn't think things through. She tried to subvert a Tenno healer and a human went along for the ride. Iriana fought to protect the human's mind and they merged partially. Linked. Just like the others."

"You haven't forgiven yourself." Jon's voice was suddenly old, kind, gentle.

"I should have done more." Diana said sternly. "Pulled them out. Gotten them to safety. Instead I dithered."

"Moving them would have killed them both." Jon said quietly. "You know this. Let go of your pain, sister. You did everything you could."

"All I could do was watch them _die!_ " Diana snapped and then her hand shot to cover her mouth. "I..." No one spoke and she slumped a bit. "Yes." Her voice was tiny. "I can't move past it entirely. It still hits me at times. They were trying so hard. They were getting better and then those nuts came in and flipped the switch. Out like a light, both of them." She bowed her head. "I still feel it."

"If you _didn't_ feel for such things..." Jon said heavily. "You wouldn't be who you are. Your job was awful, but _that_... I told Graj to let you rest. Did he?"

" _You_ did that? He made me take a _vacation_." Diana grimaced in memory. "I had no idea what to _do_ with a vacation. At _all_. Made a fool of myself a lot." She chuckled a bit sourly. "Wasn't very relaxing at times, but I was better after, so I guess it is all good."

"All we can do is go on." Jon said sagely. "Mortal or shade, we have to go on."

"Right." Diana swallowed hard and nodded. "Iriana and Janna need help. Janna is coping fairly well for being suddenly cast into a whole new world. Iriana isn't."

"Just like the others." Jon mused and Diana nodded. "You want the full deal? I will need help to set it up. I am not all what I used to be."

"For Iriana, we Tenno will move heaven and earth." Nikis said flatly. "What do you need?"

"They will need some time to adjust to the spirit world. Virtual worlds are little different." Jon said slowly. Then his voice had a grin. "Did you remember the clothes, Diana?"

"Oh no." Diana stiffened in the bed. "I did my research after. That was _not_ period attire. Not even _close_. Not going to happen, Jon. It is _not!_ "

"You looked really good in it." Jon sounded apprising now. Nikis coughed, obviously fighting laughter.

"You made me wear a tiny bra and loincloth made of _leather_!" Diana snapped. "Do you have _any_ idea how _uncomfortable_ that was, even virtual?"

"You looked _really_ good in skimpy buckskins, Diana." Jon was grinning now. That was clear even without sight.

"Be _very_ glad you are not corporeal, you letch."

* * *

Not quite a virtual world

They had compromised. Jon wanted Diana in less, Diana wanted more. She had finally chosen a variation on an ancient Shoshone dancer's outfit. It was far thinner than normal wear, but it was also ornately decorated with feathers, quills and claws. It showed more flesh than she wanted, but Jon did have a point. She knew what was coming and she _would_ bake in this.

But she wasn't _about_ to give him the satisfaction.

She could see here and that was an improvement. The virtual world...wasn't one. She stood in a cave. The floor was dry, but the walls seemed wet. A small circle of stones surrounded a fire that had been set up, but not lit yet. The white walls were painted with images that evoked animals from the past and the ceiling was wreathed with steam.

"What... the..." Iriana's voice heralded the Healer appearing. She wore period attire. A buckskin wrap surrounded her and a leather headband kept her hair in place. "Diana?"

"Hello Healer." Diana said quietly. "Welcome to the spirit world."

"Nikis was even more vague than usual." Iriana complained, staring down at herself. "And why are we wearing _animal skins_?"

"It is traditional." Diana said softly. "It helps. The more we focus on things that don't fit, the more we see. We don't focus on any _one_ thing..." The Healer jerked and then nodded.

"We see _everything_." Iriana mused. Diana nodded. "I don't think this is a good idea, Diana."

"You and Janna need help." Diana said calmly. "We are offering it." She paused as Janna appeared nearby, the Tenno's eyes huge as she stared around herself. "Hello Janna."

"Ah, hi." Janna touched the wrap that surrounded her and shivered a bit. "This is..."

"Weird." Diana said with a grin. "I know." Her smile faded. "You both need help. You need to separate."

"No!" Janna and Iriana both exclaimed as one, then stared at each other.

"You are hurting each other." Diana continued, her tone calm and serene. "You didn't intend it, _don't_ intend it. But it is happening. So, we will take steps. This won't be pleasant. But we can do this. We are with you both."

" _We_?" Janna asked, her voice tiny as she stared around the cave.

"Here and now I stand for the clan." A ancient looking spear appeared in Diana's hand and she held it ready. Was that a _stone tip_ on it? Jon definitely had flair for the dramatic. "I stand for you both."

"And they will need you." Jon's voice boomed as a figure draped in dark shadow stepped towards the two newly come women.

"Now it begins."


	12. Chapter 12

**Pain not of the body**

"What... the...?" Iriana swallowed hard as Janna just stared at the newcomer. Diana moved to stand between the two female Tenno, the spear in her hand up straight.

"You are Janna are both hurting." Jon said calmly as he stepped closer. "You don't need to be. We can and will help you. Please. Sit." He indicated the floor by the circle of stones. Iriana looked at the dark figure and then at Diana who nodded. Janna just sat as directed.

"What can you do that I can't?" Iriana demanded. Her tone wasn't quite angry. More wary. Worried.

"You look at healing as a scientific problem." Jon's tone was gentle now. "But you know that not everything _has_ a rational explanation." Iriana nodded a bit dubiously. "What I will do is not entirely rational." Diana scoffed and Jon waved a hand at her. "You hush."

"Jon. She _needs_ to understand." Diana said quietly and the dark figure paused, looked at her and then nodded. "Iriana, he can help. He has done it before. There are things that simply work better if you let go your rational mind and act on instinct." She took her left hand from the spear and held it out to the Healer. "I am here. I won't let anything happen to you."

"Are you saying he is going to do something supernatural?" Iriana asked, her tone somewhere between confused and worried. Diana frowned and looked at Jon who shook his head.

"It is not." The dark form said calmly. "But it will _seem_ that way. The trappings don't really matter, Healer. You know this." Iriana nodded again. "But it helps. What I have to do _will_ hurt both of you. There is no other way to do it that I have found. I have looked. This is the best I came up with. It will be odd. But it _will_ help both of you." He promised.

Iriana stared at the dark shrouded form and then at Diana who extended her hand a little more. The Healer sighed and took Diana's hand. Diana guided her to sit beside Janna. She gave Iriana's hand a squeeze, then released her hand to stand behind both, spear ready. But... not threatening them. As if protecting them. A line suddenly appeared on the floor, scribing a circle around the pair and the circle of stones. Iriana jerked, but then subsided. Janna didn't move, her eyes on the dark form.

"Tenno Diana stands to your defense in this place." Jon said calmly. "You must remain inside the circle. You will be assaulted by your fears, she will defend you while you work through them with me." He stepped forward as the circle arced around and sat opposite them as the circle completed. "You are in no danger from me. I am here to help, sister Iriana, sister Janna."

Iriana gasped as the circle surrounding the trio was suddenly pulsing with bright blue energy. Then she jumped as a drum sounded. It seemed to be coming from nowhere. Diana hefted her spear and moved to stand just outside the circle. She turned her back on the trio, keeping her eyes peeled. The drum continued to throb.

"Feel the rhythm." Jon said softly, his voice in time with the music. "Feel your heartbeats. Breathe with me, sisters. Come. Journey to the place you share."

Behind her, Diana could hear Iriana and Janna's breathing slow and synchronize. Something dark darted from the ceiling and without thought, Diana lashed out with the spear, transfixing the fluttery thing. Iriana gasped, but then her breathing slowed again.

"You both have taken such hurts as most Tenno would have fallen to." Jon's voice was melodic, almost hypnotic. "You are both strong, but any strength has its limits." Janna gasped as a piece of the wall came alive and two nearly transparent Red Veil operatives stepped out of it to advance on the circle. Janna's darkest fears. The ones who had taken her and killed her parents. Diana moved without thought, attacking both at the same time. A thrust and then a slash and both vanished as if they had never been. Janna's breathing slowed again and Jon continued. "Such pain and fear I sense in both of you. You are equal to it. Masters of your fear, not subservient to it. _You_ control yourselves, no one else."

Without warning, the world changed, but Diana was ready for it. The same thing had happened the last time. The circle remained, the trio within remained, all three breathing in time. She didn't need to see to know that all three had their eyes closed. But she was busy.

Shadowy forms approached the circle and she beat them back. They took the forms of Grineer, Corpus, Red Veil and others. None could stand against her though. She destroyed each in turn, never faltering, never slowing. It was _highly_ unlikely that they could get past the blue energy circle that surrounded the sitting trio, but that didn't mean it was impossible. Diana swore to herself that she would not let anything touch the circle. All through her fight, she heard Jon speaking, but it was low, audible only to Janna and Iriana.

It came as a shock when the shadowy forms stopped attacking the circle and started attacking _her_. That hadn't happened before. It made no difference. She kept them busy, darting here and there, parrying attacks when she could, striking and moving. She was almost as much a wraith as they were.

 _Do you really think you can win here?_ A dark and sinister voice sounded from nowhere. Diana did not respond, she kept lashing out with the spear as shadow piled atop shadow, trying to envelop her. She wasn't sure what they could do to _her_ , but better her than Iriana or Janna. _Foolish Tenno._

Diana jerked to a halt as a new shadow appeared. Not one of Iriana's nightmares or Janna's. One of hers! The Orokin Executor held a gleaming golden sword and had a pistol holstered at his side, but those were secondary to the several drones that hovered around him. The face was obscured and Diana was thankful for that.

 _You are not real._ Diana snapped silently, mindful not to break the rhythm that was still pounding through the cave. Any disruption in the ritual would hurt Janna and Iriana badly. She wouldn't allow it. _Begone._

 _You do not command._ The other drew his sword. That _wasn't_ a Tenno blade. More a scimitar than a Skana, Nikana or anything like them. One handed and about a meter long, it's edge glowed with fell red energy. Familiar looking energy. Diana stared at it for a moment and then nodded.

 _I know you despite the illusions. You shall not pass._ Diana said calmly as she focused on the spear in her hand. This wasn't a virtual world, not entirely. But it followed some of the same rules. She could alter some of the parameters. Not many. She couldn't make a laser cannon out of the spear. She couldn't make a metal Nikana out of the wood and stone. She didn't _have_ to.

The spear in her hands glowed for a moment and then shrank. From nearly two meters in length it shortened to one. Then part of it widened a little. The shape was familiar. A sword, but... wooden. All around the edge of the sword, black glass like pieces suddenly reflected the golden light that emanated from the shadow that watched her. An Aztec sword, just as functional and deadly as any Tenno blade, if less durable. Obsidian glass was _still_ one of the sharpest naturally occurring materials known to man. Only a monomolecuar edge was sharper and here, Diana could cheat a little and make the edges of her shards a single molecular wide. Such edges would cut through a diamond without effort. Orokin era bio-armor was harder than diamond but not by very much. The sword she made _would_ cleave a warframe if she got a solid hit in. Admittedly, glass of any kind was not nearly as durable as steel, but again, she cheated a little. Her sword was _not_ an ancient artifact. It just looked like one.

 _You cannot best us._ The other declared, striding forward, only to pause as Diana moved to block his way. _Our quarrel is not with you._

 _Yes, it is._ Diana retorted.

Then she attacked.

* * *

This time, the battle was far more even. Five drones and the Executor versus Diana. He kept trying to get past her and she wouldn't allow it. The drones couldn't take hits from her sword. Each time she connected a tiny scream sounded as the drone vanished. The Executor shaped shadow could not pass her.

 _You corrupt her._ The other said as he struck once, twice, three times.

 _I am trying to help her._ Diana retorted. _Unlike you._ She connected with a deceptively short slash and the shadow fell back, red fluid seeing down the golden robes. _Did it feel good to hurt her? To kill her friend while she watched and felt it happen?_ Now, Diana was _firmly_ on the offensive. She beat her opponent back and then back again. The two remaining drones tried to interpose themselves, but she made short work of them. _I know who and what you are. You are no Executor._

 _Well reasoned._ The other fell back a pace and then it shifted. The form was familiar. Red and black armor. The pronged two handed sword hung in a negligent looking grip and its energy flared bright red. _Pointless._ _You are doomed, Tenno._

 _Yes._ Diana retorted and the other seemed to pause. _You don't remember, do you?_ She launched a blistering series of slashes and the other fell back again, away from the circle. She did not miss a shadow trying to pass her unnoticed. She skewered it with a thrust. It gave a shriek and vanished. _Do you know what I am?_

The other retreated again, but Diana did not take the bait this time. She retreated herself, keeping between the red and black form and the circle. Janna and Iriana were swaying in time to the music. Jon was a dark statue. The other started to move and Diana matched him, her focus on everything.

 _You cannot win here, Tenno._ The shadow said firmly as it hefted it's huge sword. Diana did not respond simply kept herself between him and the others. _She could have been happy and you took it from her!_

 _She_ **is** _happy._ Diana retorted. **You** _did it._ **You** _subverted Gillie's weapon._ **You** _killed Karl._

 _I merely provided a path._ The other mocked. _The Executor walked it._

 _You are manipulating Gillie somehow._ Diana shook her head. She shook her head. _Enough. You go no further. She is_ **not** _yours. She will never_ **be** _yours. She is her own person and has made her opinion of you quite clear. Come and meet me if you dare, coward._

Diana started forward, wary of shadows, but none appeared. The red and black warframe started forward as well. What happened next was hard to describe. It was nearly impossible to tell who moved first. Stalker maybe had a millisecond or two of advantage before both were in motion.

That wasn't _enough_.

Diana dove under the first sweep of the blade, driving herself past her limits in the need to end the conflict before Iriana or Janna took hurt. She couldn't be everywhere and the shadows were gathering to try again. But this... This had to be stopped now. This _wasn't_ a virtual world. A death here would be permanent even for Tenno. If the other managed to subvert Iriana or Janna here, it would be worse. Diana would not allow that.

Before her enemy could recover his stance, Diana struck and obsidian flakes on the side of her blade bit deep. She followed through even as the other recoiled, trying to interpose his huge blade between hers and his now exposed flesh. He failed. But...

"Diana! Stop!" Jon's voice shouted at her even as her blade cut again into the hated form in front of her. She hit it again and again, red rage suffusing every pore as she fought to batter through the warframe that was falling now. She drew back to send a killing strike through the helmet. Let him try to recover from that.

 **You** _ **will NOT-**_ _..._ Diana froze as a hand suddenly grasped her arm. She spun, ready to fight, but Janna stood there, her face solemn. Diana stopped her instinctive counterattack bare centimeters from Janna's chest and recoiled. "Janna?"

Janna stepped forward, her face grave. She moved to stand beside Diana as Iriana rose. The Healer's face...was empty. Jon stood behind them, the blue circle had vanished. It was...done?

"Diana." The Healer was quiet. "Stand down. My fight."

"I..." Diana retreated a step. "Yes, Healer." She bowed her head.

"You do not own me." Iriana said to the bleeding warframe like thing. "You never did. You never will. I am not who I was. You are not who you were." Her words were quiet, calm. But the red and black warframe recoiled from each as if Diana were still cutting. "I don't know you. We are enemies and that is the only thing we will ever be."

 _You... can... be more._ The Stalker said savagely, forcing himself upright despite gaping holes in his warframe. His sword came up.

"I am." Iriana laid a hand on Janna's shoulder. Janna smiled, but the expression did not touch her eyes. "I am a mother and a Healer. I will remember, but you have no hold on me anymore. You killed Karl and I will _die_ before I serve you. You will continue to hound me, so... I must deny you your prize. Diana, I ask your aid." Iriana knelt and bowed her head.

"No..." Diana breathed as Stalker retreated another step. "Iriana."

"Don't make Janna do it!" Iriana pleaded. The red and black warframe retreated again as Iriana bowed her head fully. "Diana. I ask for an honorable death."

"I can't do that, Iriana!" Diana snapped. "I... I can't. I am what I am, but... I can't. Not you!" Something seemed to go snap inside Diana and then she was kneeling on the floor, crying. Her sword fell from nerveless fingers. "I am sorry, Iriana. I am a murderer. A monster. But... I can't."

"It is all right, Diana." Iriana's voice was soothing now. Arms enveloped her. "It is over."

"He will keep coming after you and I can't... I can't." Diana was sobbing as another set of arms surrounded her. Janna was humming, whatever tune she was humming as calming, soothing.

"Diana." Jon's voice came from nearby. "Look up." Diana shook her head savagely and Jon sighed. "Stubborn Tenno. Or should I call you 'silly girl' again?" He asked snidely. "Because you are being silly."

"Jon." Diana tried to snap that, but it came out a croak.

"Look up, Grandmaster Rectifier." Jon commanded and despite herself, Diana did as ordered, the discipline of decades working to overcome her emotion.

Iriana was crying. Janna was as well. But both looked better than they had. Diana stared around, but the cave was empty. No sign of the shadows. No blood. No nothing. The cave was pristine again.

"There are times I seriously wish peyote hadn't gone out of style." Jon complained as his form solidified into a dark Atlas warframe. It was festooned with feathers and other natural decorations. "Yes, it made a hell of a mess of the body, but there was _far_ less crying."

"Bite me, Jon." Diana half snarled, half sobbed. "This wasn't like last time!"

"No." Jon admitted. 'This time, the enemy who caused this knew how to get here. But that was not a wise tactical decision. You hurt him. You hurt him _bad_. And you nearly killed yourself doing so. Some things never change it seems."

"Thank you, Diana." Iriana was crying softly. "It hurts, but it is healing." She nodded to Jon who nodded back. "I can feel the difference already. Janna?"

"Me too, Mom." Janna hugged Diana tighter. "He really..."

"This wasn't real." Jon warned. "Diana's mind reacted to the intrusion of another mind into our sanctuary in her usual understated fashion." Sarcasm ripped around the cave. "He won't try _that_ again, I don't think."

"Seeing an Executor again hurt, Jon." Diana said weakly. She didn't seem to have the energy to extract herself from the others. "Fighting him..." She bowed her head.

"Fighting an enemy armed with steel with wood and stone." Janna said slowly. "That is...impressive."

"This is all in the mind." Diana said quietly. "I know my own mind."

"And you are not shy about breaking rules." Jon said mildly as he toed the wooden sword. "At least this was mostly traditional. But I am not going to cut out anyone's heart with a jade dagger today." Iriana and Janna both stiffened, but Diana smiled. "Better?"

"Yeah." Diana took a deep breath, let it out and then too another. "Shaman, I am sorry I disrupted the ritual."

"Be very glad I am not corporeal or I might demand the blanket ritual in atonement." Jon said haughtily. Diana glared and him and he laughed. "Hey, I can dream."

"That is the _only_ way you will ever see me in such a ritual. Or in your blankets. In your _dreams_." Diana snapped, but her heart wasn't in it. Iriana and Janna looked mystified. "Don't ask." She begged.

"Pity." Jon shrugged. "There are very few things that cannot be solved with a good medicinal-" He broke off as Diana jerked to her feet. "Diana."

"Let's _not_ shock the Healer and her daughter any more than we _have_ , honored grandfather." Diana said quietly. She bowed to the shaman. "Thank you, Shaman. It has been... a long time."

"Too long, granddaughter." Jon had a smile in his voice. "Don't be a stranger."

"Nikis won't approve." Diana wanted to talk to him more, but as she wasn't about to cross Nikis.

"We will find a way, Diana." Jon paused "Will you take my blessing?" Instead of answering, Diana knelt and bowed her head. She smiled and her garb changed a little. It became a bit skimpier. It still covered her, but less. "Thanks, girl." Jon's voice held appreciation now as she bowed her head.

"Great Spirit, show this warrior the path to her enemies. Protect her from the arrows and spears. Let her way be clear and the enemies easy to make out. May her blade cut swift and true to cleave evil from its hiding place. Aid her to restore peace to her and her family." His transparent hand touched her on the head and then, like wisp of dream, he was gone. "Be well, Diana WhiteHorse."

Diana sniffed a little as she looked up, tears falling. But she was smiling. "You be _good_ , Grandpa WhiteHorse! Or I _will_ sic Grandma WhiteHorse on you!"

"You _would_." Jon's voice came from nowhere. But he had a smile in it as Iriana and Janna stared at each other and then at Diana. "Ah, a Grandmaster and _still_ such a _disobedient_ child..."

"Don't _start_ , Grandpa!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Ability**

"That was your grandfather?" Janna asked as Diana sipped her drink.

"Um, sort of." Diana made a face at the taste of the drink but she did finish it. She had eaten the meal that Iriana had provided, but like most meals that were provided in medical care, taste was secondary to being easy to digest. Hospital food had always been hospital food and likely always would be.

"Can you talk about it?" Janna asked slowly. "I mean... I never knew my grandparents. I had them of course, but I never knew them. I barely remember my parents because of all the things the Clergy had to do to help me past what happened."

"I um... Yeah." Diana smiled a bit as she put the cup down and pushed the tray back. She was getting good at such small things and took pride in being able to do for herself despite her inability to see. "Some of the memories hurt, but most of them are good ones. First of all though, I am not really related to Jon WhiteHorse except by adoption. His son took me in." She bowed her head. "Me and my brother Frank. I was five standard years old and he was four." She shrugged. "A lot of Tenno children were orphaned by various calamities so there were always foster families available. Not all of us who were born infected wanted to be Warriors but from the moment Frank and I could talk, we wanted nothing else." She shook her head. "There was an attack on the Citadel with a nuclear weapon. Mom and dad were there. My brother and I were at a school set up on the coast."

"That was the mess the Elena Greensky caused. I heard a bit about that." Janna said quickly. Diana nodded. "I am sorry."

"We were hardly the only orphans." Diana said with a sigh. "But we did fairly well with our foster family. Trent WhiteHorse was a good father. He did everything he could to help us, to teach us. To show us the various Ways. He didn't want us to be Warriors, but he didn't deny us our choices either." She smiled in fond memory. "Thing was, he was full blooded Tenno and his family kept various traditions alive from many different places. Not always _intact_ , mind you..." She said with a grin. Janna chuckled at her tone. "But he did well by us. He took us in, gave us a home. Gave us a new family. Grandpa and Grandma were gone by then, but they had special dispensation to come back every so often."

"I thought shades couldn't leave the database." Janna sounded wary now and Diana nodded.

"Under normal circumstances, no." Diana agreed. "But you met Jon. Is he in _any_ way 'normal'?" Janna actually laughed at that and Diana grinned. "Yeah. He is... Well, the best word is probably 'contrary'." She shook her head in memory. "He isn't a bad person, but he can be downright _infuriating_ at times. He always said that a little chaos was good for people. Me? I think he just liked causing trouble. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if he was actually secretly a worshiper of Coyote, the aboriginal Trickster god."

"What happened to him?" Janna asked. "I mean... if he was dead...?"

"Not all Tenno wear warframes, Janna." Diana slumped a bit in the bed. "He and Grandma were offered them. He took one, she did not. She said that it wasn't right for her to be alive far past everyone else she knew. That she had a specific time and when that time was up, she would pass on. But when the time came, instead, she went into the database. He chose to join her there. To this day, I am not sure why she chose that. But I am glad of it. They were a great help to me and Frank." She turned her head away from Janna's voice.

"Your brother." A hand found Diana's and gave a squeeze. "Michelle said it was bad, what happened. I won't ask. But you have my sympathy."

"Thank you." Diana forced her voice to remain level. "Okay." She gave Janna's hand a squeeze and released it. "What now?"

"Well, I have drill." Janna said after a few seconds. "Would you be interested?"

"I could use the exercise." Diana admitted. "I might start getting flabby lying here all day."

"Somehow I doubt _that_ will happen." Janna chuckled. "Mom said you are not bedridden anymore. Let me get a clean bodysuit for you." The hand let go of hers and movement sounded nearby.

"If you try to help me dress, I will hit you." Diana warned.

"You are not disabled, Diana." Janna said with a snort. "Just...differently-abled, if that makes any sense at all. You are incredible with a sword so no, I don't want you angry with me."

"I learned the sword early." Diana smiled in fond memory as she sat up. A bundle found her hands and she unfolded it carefully. Then she removed the patient gown. She was hardly body shy and Janna was not one to be embarrassed at such. Not since she wanted to be a medic. "Dad started me on it to learn patience. I... um... I needed to learn patience."

"Long story there." Janna was smiling from the sound of her voice.

" _Embarrassing_ story there." Diana corrected. "Suffice it to say, I _did_ learn and the sword was a natural progression of my studies. I enjoyed it a lot." She pulled the bodysuit on carefully, settling the boots into place with the skill of long practice. She didn't need to see for such things. "Frank and I used to spar all the time and Dad made us learn how to do it right. Mainly to keep us from hurting one another. We... um... We got into it far more than was good for us from very early on." Pain sang in her voice, but she forced it back.

"You miss him." Janna's voice was soft as Diana rose to her feet. A hand found hers again and then they were walking.

"At times." Diana shook her head. "For now though? I will need to learn my way around the dojo. I guess I can get one of those canes humans with vision impairments used to use to avoid obstacles."

"Mom hasn't given up." Janna said quietly. "Neither should you."

"Oh, I won't give up." Diana reassured the other. "I just need to get on with my life. Fighting may be beyond me but I will keep up my form. You prefer the staff?"

"It gives me reach." Janna replied. "Not that I am going to be ready to go out on my own for a long time." Diana nodded and Janna continued. "Anyway, they have me learning other weapons. The sword is taking a bit more than I had thought. I do want to learn Skana. Every Tenno does."

"Basic Skana work is the foundation on which almost every other Tenno weapon art is laid." Diana agreed as they walked. They stopped and Diana felt vertical movement. They had entered an elevator. "Problem is, if you only learned the staff, you will have to unlearn a few things."

"Yeah." Janna sounded disgusted. "I thought I was fairly advanced in it. Turned out I was. For a _human._ " Diana turned her blind eyes to look at the younger Tenno as disgust sounded in Janna's voice.

"Janna." Diana said calmly. "Do not disparage yourself. You have a long way to go, yes. But humans are not lesser than Tenno. They are _different_. No more, no less." The hand on her arm tightened a little, but Diana continued. "We exist to protect humanity. That is our purpose. Our one true reason for existing. Ever since the First Tenno, Tenno have existed to _protect_."

"That purpose has been subverted on occasion." Janna wasn't arguing. Not really.

"True." Diana said sadly as the elevator came to a halt and Janna started off again. Diana followed. "Humans and Tenno share ambitions if little else much of the time. But most of the ones I have dealt with seem honorable." She chuckled sourly. "If angry currently." She shook her head. "Can't blame them."

"Diana." Janna chided her gently. "If _I_ am not allowed to live in the past, neither are _you_." Diana smiled and nodded. "Training hall ahead. You have been memorizing steps?"

"Yeah." Diana replied as a door hissed nearby. She wanted to be able to find her way back without assistance.

Janna continued walking and noise came to the blind Tenno. Bodies in motion. Hisses of air and grunts of effort. Training had sounds all of its own. In its own way, Tenno drill was just as hard as combat. In some ways it was worse. Tenno lived by the adage 'The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in war'. She could feel Tenno energy all around her. The hall was filled with Tenno working out, but... not Just Tenno. She could hear humans huffing and puffing as they too exercised. She had been told of humans working in the dojo and she had met Brianna, but this was the first she had actually encountered the others. She could feet the scrutiny even without eyes.

"Janna." A firm male voice sounded. Will. That was Will. Alicia's partner. "Diana."

"Training Master." Janna stopped and her hand twitched. Diana needed no further urging. She bowed formally towards the voice. "I need to work on Kata two and Diana says she doesn't want to get flabby."

"Can't have that." A bubble of amusement sounded in the other's voice. "Preferred weapon, Diana?"

"Just Skana for now." Diana said quietly. "I need to learn my new limits, so if you have an area clear, I can use that." Not a good idea for her to be swinging even a dull practice blade around people when she couldn't _see_ them.

"We can handle that." Will replied. "Iriana mentioned you used an Aztec sword to defend her." Diana shrugged slightly. "I would like to see your level of skill." Diana felt a tingle of anticipation. He wanted to test her. The sword had been her life but without sight?

"Just practice for right now, Training Master." Diana said firmly. "Let me settle into my new limits. Then we can see."

"Fair enough." Will replied. "Janna, those swords." Janna's hand fell away. She was back in seconds and the hilt of a training sword touched Diana's hand. She took it and hefted it easily. It didn't feel quite right. She scowled as she examined it by touch. It wasn't a Skana.

"Training Master." Diana said firmly. "This isn't a Skana." Indeed, the blade was longer and thinner. It had a guard below a hilt wrapped in some kind of leather. She knew what it was. A practice _Nikana_. Not the basic blade all Tenno learned first. No, this was a _master's_ practice weapon.

"Many have questioned your right to be here." Will said calmly. "We -your clan- do not, but the Elders in particular need corroboration of who and what you were and are. This will be recorded but the record will be classified and only available to the Elders."

"I understand." Diana bowed her head and then nodded. "Janna, step away."

"No! You _can't!_ " Janna protested. She _did_ move away. She wasn't stupid. "She can't _see!_ "

"They need to know, Janna." Diana said quietly as she put the blade to her hip where a real Nikana would sit in its saya. "Better we do it here, now." She bowed to where Will's voice came from.

The Skana strike came without warning and she was fighting.

* * *

"Holy..." Janna breathed as Diana and Will seemed to _blur_. Will was in his usual golden Excalibur Prime. Diana in a bodysuit. Unfair, but... She jerked as an armored hand landed on her warframe's shoulder.

"Back." Tiana commanded and Janna swallowed hard. Tiana led her away from the now dancing pair. Strikes from Skana and Nikana flew back and forth, avoided or parried. "There is only one way to prove what she was to the Elder's satisfaction, Janna. Do not interfere."

"No." Janna begged as two _more_ warframes strode to where Diana and Will were engaged. Ric held a practice Dakra and Quais a pair of practice Fang daggers. "She can't win."

"Winning isn't everything, Janna." Tiana said sadly as Ric and Quais both darted in while Will held Diana's attention. Then she and Janna both hissed in amazement as Diana seemed to levitate. No, she was using Will's binding Skana as a lever to arc herself away from the new attackers. "Then again..."

"Holy." Janna was awed as Diana moved again. She couldn't see her opponents, that was clear from her moves, but she was avoiding them _anyway_. But not _just_ avoiding them! Her plastic Nikana licked out again and again.

"Gained." Ric shouted suddenly and stepped away from the fight, touching his side. He strode to Janna's side and shook his head. Rueful admiration sounded in his quiet tone as he nodded to Tiana. "Glad I wore my warframe. That was well struck. With live steel? I would be dead, armored or not." Diana did not speak as both Quias and Will were advancing on her.

The uneven fight continued and now all of the others in the room were staring as Diana fought Will _and_ Quais to a standstill. Tiana turned to one wall where Iriana stood with a Nyx warframe beside her. The Healer's jaw had dropped. There could be only one outcome though. Eventually, Will held her blade long enough and Quias managed a solid strike with both daggers that had Diana grunting. Then she stepped back from the fight.

"Gained." Diana said formally. "Well struck." She did _not_ lower her guard. "That would be lethal. Enough?" She asked.

"Enough." Will agreed. "End bout." She nodded and relaxed, her blade going back to her side. The others lowered their weapons as well. "You okay?"

"I am going to _feel_ this tomorrow." Diana said with a grin. "But yeah. I am okay."

"That was incredible." Janna said weakly. "I... There is no way I could do that."

"Not yet, no." Diana stepped to where Janna stood and held out her free hand to the younger Tenno. Janna took it. "Janna, I studied the sword most of my life. I _better_ be good with it or my first sensei would probably appear out of thin air and _beat_ me black and blue." She shook her head. "Master Shima was _scary_."

"Wait. _What_?" Tiana was hardly the only person in the room to goggle at the blind Tenno. "You studied under _Master Shima_? _**Vauban**_? The _First_?"

"Yeah." Diana's face fell. "He was ancient by the time I started. It took a massive calamity to bring him out of retirement, but he came and taught students again. Seven students started his tutelage. _Two_ passed his final exam. My brother and I. Sensei was killed in action two years after he certified us Master rank. Blade or gun, he was untouchable. It took an enemy destroying an _entire space habitat_ to kill him and even then we wondered." She shook her head. "He was the hardest teacher I ever studied under, but also the finest."

"Will?" Tiana said slowly. Will nodded.

"I always knew there was someone better than me, Diana." Will said calmly. "I am honored to have dueled you."

"I am _not_ better than you." Diana disagreed firmly. "Desperation grants at least three levels of skill and all three of you were holding back. Your Skana art is unmatched in my own experience, Will. My own Skana art is _not_ to your level." She touched the Nikana with her free hand. "Longer blade with a wider guard. Different style. This proves only that I can defend myself. Nothing more." Will looked at Tiana who looked at Janna who shook her head.

"I um..." Janna swallowed. "I have long way to go. Better get started?"

"Good attitude." Diana smiled.

* * *

Later

Diana was aware of scrutiny as she patiently adjusted Janna's guard by touch. The girl had been at it all day, with a few breaks now and then. Diana was tiring, but she would keep going as long as Janna did.

"There." Diana stepped back two steps and nodded to Janna. "Try that. It should be better balanced."

"It is." Janna was smiling from her tone as she moved through her kata. "You know... I didn't know what to expect from you, Diana. But I guess if you were taught by Vauban, then you would be a good teacher."

"Not necessarily." Diana said mildly. "I am not the best of teachers. One reason I didn't want to sponsor you is that my patience has some severe limits. I have been working on that for a long time, but..." She shrugged. "A woman's reach should always exceed her grasp."

"This feels right." Janna said softly, her tone speculative.

That was the only warning Diana had. It was enough. Diana's practice Nikana swept out and parried the half hearted strike that Janna had sent her way, batting it to the side and the blind Tenno's instinctive follow through landed a hard hilt bash into the stunned younger Tenno's midsection. Another blow to the side of her helmet left the other even more stunned and Diana took the practice Skana form Janna's suddenly limp fingers.

"Do not _ever_ do that again." Diana said in a soft voice that held more than hint of menace. "If you wish to spar, then we can spar, but with rules. With observers. Do not _ever_ strike at anyone you do not intend to cut." Janna hissed as Diana's practice blade kissed her throat armor. "I am your teacher and I am held to a very high standard. Master Shima would have beaten the crap out of you and then _dismissed_ you as student for such an act. A Skana is not a _toy_ to _play_ with." The scorn in her voice could have cut steel.

"Not her fault." Another voice said mildly. Diana spun, her practice Nikana ready, but the female voice just sighed. "I asked her to do something like that on her last break. She argued, but agreed. Blame me if you must. The Elders will want to know how you reacted. My name is Magda."

"We need to talk."


	14. Chapter 14

**Laws**

Diana was not happy. Janna had been silent ever since the lecture in the training hall. It was either embarrassment at being lectured in front of her peers in the clan or anger at being used to gauge Diana's reaction. Either way, it worried the blind Tenno. But that was just the first bit. They had moved to another room to talk.

Magda had introduced herself a police officer. That made her a known quantity in Diana's experience. But not one that Diana had dealt with recently. She hadn't had to interact with the police a lot in her career. Most of what she had done, she had disdained attention of _any_ kind. At best it was counterproductive. Any attention she got would highlight her to potential targets. Yes, she could use a warframe to carve through any defenses they might set up, but that hadn't been her role. She was a knife in the night, not a bolt of lightning accompanied by loud thunder in broad daylight.

Then she had expected Iriana to be upset with the fact that Diana's practice blade had struck Janna twice. She needn't have worried about _that_.

"Of all the stupid, pigheaded, bullcrap for brains ideas..." The Healer was on a roll and no one seemed to want to draw her ire. Wise of them. "You could have just _asked_ her, you know. Even _I_ can hypothesize scenarios and when _I_ do it, no one gets hurt. Janna was a fool for _doing_ it, but you, Miss Cop? _You_ were a _jerk_ for _suggesting_ it. No one _sane_ does that to a master swordswoman."

"Healer." Magda's voice was calm and considered. "We needed to know."

"Needed to know _what_?" The Healer demanded angrily. "That Diana will _defend_ herself? Duh." She snarled. "We _all_ knew that."

"We needed to know if she would hurt Janna." Magda said quietly and there was utter silence in the room. "Janna is in a warfame, there was little danger."

"You... _arrogant_..." The Healer choked off as Janna coughed.

"Officer, you are in error. Diana _could_ have killed me with the practice blade." Janna's voice was rough but it firmed. "I was stupid to accept your arguments. I notice that Tiana was nowhere to be found when you proposed it. Teacher, I give apology." Diana took a deep breath and held out a hand. An armored one took it.

"Accepted. Don't do that again, Janna." Diana said quietly. "I can't completely override my muscle memory. I can alter the strikes, shift the blows to be non-lethal instead of lethal, but I am not totally sure I can stop them when taken by surprise like that. I could have hurt you badly. That is the _last_ thing I want to do."

"I know." The hand holding hers gave a squeeze. "I will practice the kata and I will take any punishment you decree."

"I will think of something suitably nasty for you." Diana promised and the hand quivered in hers. Trepidation or laughter? Hard to say. She turned her blind eyes to the voice of the cop. "What did you want to discuss, Officer Magda?" She asked, her tone turning icily polite.

"The Elders are confused." Magda apparently wasn't one to sound being perturbed. "They often have to act without all of the information. Very rarely do they have enough to make what they consider proper decisions. That means that a lot of what they decide on is...less than adequate for some people." Iriana snarled but did not speak again and after a moment, Officer Magda spoke again. "You are an enigma, Tenno Diana. You served the Executor and the Rising. Now you serve a clan that has sworn to destroy them both. This... puts some query onto your loyalty."

"Now _wait_ just a _minute..._!" Iriana snapped.

"You _cannot_...!" Janna was just as irate.

"Healer. Janna." Diana's soft words cut them both off. "Officer, I cannot answer our questions. I have reason for shifting my loyalty. But I cannot speak of it. Not to you nor the Elders. I am sworn." And she would _not_ break her word to Michelle. Not a chance in _hell_.

"Then you see our problem." Magda had a wince in her last words, but continued. "We cannot trust you."

" _You_ are not the ones who must trust me." Diana replied evenly. "And frankly? Denying me medical treatment doesn't garner a lot of trust for the Elders with me." Iriana huffed and Diana smiled. There was little mirth in it. "I know the Healer has been pressing for a clone. I _also_ know she is starting to lose patience with the Elder's intransigence. Angering her is a _bad idea_ as the Executor found out." Janna and Iriana both chuckled at that, but it wasn't really funny. An angry Healer was a terrifying thought. "I am trying to keep her calm, but it hard."

"The Rising was bad enough when it was simply an ultra-violent splinter faction of the Red Veil which had attracted some Tenno." Magda had a frown in her voice now. "But now? It is being run by a renegade _Executor_?"

"Renegade? She thinks she is saving humanity. Her way." Diana kept her voice calm. "Destroy the Corpus and Grineer, then focus on the Infested and Sentients. Simple." The sarcasm in her tone could have cut through a Grineer Galleon end to end.

" _Simple_." Janna and Iriana chorused.

"Yeah." Diana replied sourly. "Then again, the simplest things in war are always the hardest to pull off. She wants humanity to be free of all shackles. Not an bad goal, but I _bet_ that includes the Lotus." She slumped a bit. "I _know_ it includes the Lotus' children. She considers them demons. I know she voted to destroy them when they were found. Graj abstained. We were not there. We had business elsewhere."

"How many abstained?" Iriana asked suddenly. Diana turned her face to Iriana's direction and the Healer had a frown in her tone. "I am curious. I know seven was an absolute majority."

"There were ten Executors at the time." Diana slumped a bit in memory. "Three abstained. None dissented. It was wrong, what they did. Fear makes people do the dumbest things. Looking back, Margulis was a hero, hiding the children the way she did to try and help them. But flouting the Executors' control _publically_ could _only_ end one way." She slumped a bit. "I wasn't there when she was sentenced and executed. Graj was deeply conflicted by that. I know he was. He sent me on an assignment shortly before. I was busy when Margulis was faced them and paid for her open rebellion."

"Busy _killing_ someone." Magda's tone was flat.

"Yes." Diana replied just as flatly. "I was arranging a deniable accident for a pedophile who liked to torture her victims to death. She was on her _two hundred and_ _fifteenth_ when I got to her." Iriana gagged but Diana wasn't done. "She had money and power, so she could get away with it. When presented with the evidence, the Executor I served ordered her to stop and seek counseling. To pay reparations to the families she had torn apart. She refused, because she was High Orokin. He couldn't punish her as she _so_ deserved. She was untouchable. By everyone but _me_. I was the last recourse. She will kill _no more children_." Her tone dared the cop to comment. Wisely, Magda did not.

"Good." Janna's tone was satisfied. Diana made a quizzical face and Janna made a noise of sorrow. Her voice was halting as she fought emotions and Diana gave her hand another squeeze. "I was... Where I was... We saw a lot of bad. It was...um... Money and power could buy a lot. But in the end, justice _could_ be done. Not in time for many of the victims, but we always had the satisfaction of knowing that the scum who did it would not do it again."

"It is not right." Diana said sternly and Janna made noise of agreement. "What I did was never _right_. But in the end, it was _needed_. I did what I did. Will I be censured for doing such?" She asked the cop.

"Most Tenno Warriors have served as assassins." Magda said carefully. "But you are the first true professional assassin that I have dealt with. The Elders are frankly worried about you."

"Worried that she might get mad and slaughter them all?" Iriana snapped. She gasped. Magda must have nodded. "She _wouldn't!_ "

"They don't know that." Magda sounded reasonable. "What they know is that she was Rising and now she is affiliated with a clan who has a history of...um, 'interpreting' orders from the Elders." Her tone turned sharp. "If you were ordered to kill the Elders, Tenno Diana, _would_ you?"

Diana took a moment to order her thoughts. When she spoke it was calm and considered.

"First of all, Warlord Tiana would never order such." The blind Tenno said with a touch of asperity. "She is tough but fair minded. She isn't in the business of wholesale slaughter of kin. Neither was I. I was never given Tenno as targets."

"And if you _had?_ " Magda said. She hurried to continue as both Iriana and Janna hissed. "It is a valid question!"

"If I _had_ , I would have carried out my orders." Diana's tone might have frozen liquid helium. "I was _only_ sent after the _worst_ of the _worst_. If I had been ordered to go after Nicholas, I _would_ have. _That_ I would have had _no_ moral difficulty with. _None at all_." She snapped. She gave herself a shake. "I was never sent after Tenno."

"If the Executor took hostages and ordered you to kill someone to spare them, would you?" Magda asked.

"No." Diana said firmly. "She does not command me now. I would regret the loss of life, but no. Whatever she demanded would be far worse than the loss of innocent lives. "

"Who does command you?" Magda asked. Diana did not respond and the cop sighed. "Tenno Diana, I am not your enemy."

"I cannot answer your question." Diana replied. "I serve this clan. I obey orders given to me by my Warlord. She would never order such. She understands honor."

"And if honor and duty are directly in conflict?" Magda's tone turned sharp and Diana looked at her. "What would you choose?"

"I can't say." Diana said after a moment's thought. "Without knowing the actual situation, I can't say. I would like to think I could find a way for honor _and_ duty to be satisfied. But I know the real world is filled with situations that defy such reason."

"Have you been in such a situation?" Magda asked. Diana did not respond. "Tenno, please."

"I cannot answer you." Diana said flatly. "Do what you must, Officer. But I cannot answer you _or_ your Elders. I serve my clan but I cannot answer your questions."

"Tiana says she cannot order you to answer." Magda was musing now. Diana did not react. "So you are bound by someone else. But... not the Executor."

"Do not press this." Diana warned. "You will not like what happens. I cannot answer you. My life is a small price to pay."

"Even in a closed session?" Magda asked. Diana shook her head. "I see. You and your Warlord will be summoned before the Elders."

"No!" Iriana and Janna both protested, but a door hissed. The cop had left. Diana slumped a little.

"I can't tell them." Diana said sadly. The hand holding hers gave a squeeze and her other hand was taken by a flesh and blood one. "I can't run or it will bring dishonor to the clan and I can't tell them. Such truths could shatter the delicate balance of power within the system. I am sworn. Duty and honor. Damn her. Only one way out. Janna, Iriana. Please leave me. I will...handle it." Tenno could suicide at will and if Diana did so, there would be no coming back.

" _Screw_ this." Iriana snapped. "I won't allow it." The flesh and blood hand clasped tighter and Diana jerked away as energy flared nearby. "Diana! Come here." The hand grabbed hold and held on.

"Iriana! I _can't_..." Whatever else she was going to say was cut off by the feelings of a portal transit.

A sudden smell was everywhere. Not one that Diana knew. Actually, she did. Terror blossomed as she recalled that smell. That feeling. _Infested_.

" _ **Iriana**_!" Diana screamed in sheer terror as something struck her on the back of the head and she fell into darkness.

Darkness... that was singing to her as she screamed.

* * *

She was aware. She was lying on something soft and warm. Everything was calm. She was...

Diana jerked up from where she lay. The blanket covering her fell off and she stared down at herself and then around. She was lying on a couch and the blanket looked hand woven. She was wearing a bodysuit and...

Wait. She could _see!_

"Hello." Diana spun to see an old human woman sitting in what looked for all the world like an antique wooden rocking chair nearby. "You are in no danger, Tenno Diana." The woman said calmly. "You are a guest, not a prisoner." There was no one else in the room. Only a few pictures decorated the walls and those were of things Diana recognized as long gone landmarks on Earth.

"I..." Diana shook her head. "This is not real."

"No. This is virtual." The other shook her head. "Iriana didn't think. She reacted. After all of the recent shocks, no one will blame her for trying to protect you the only way she could. She wants you helped. We may be able to. We may not. But you will not react well to us."

"I..." Diana froze. "Wait... Michelle said Iriana was affiliated with..." She swallowed hard. "Caretaker."

"I am not a Caretaker of the Unclean myself." The woman replied evenly. "This form is a representation of a human, but I am not human. You were knocked unconscious because you were fighting. And... Even unconscious, you are dangerous."

"Tell me I didn't hurt Iriana." Diana was not quite pleading.

"Bruises, no more." The other reassured her. "Considering the _last_ time you faced Infested, you reacted _exactly_ as expected." The old woman slumped in her chair. "Iriana is mortified. She had been told what you went through before you went into cryo but it didn't click for her until you smelled the Infested and went berserk. No one _blames_ you." The not-human woman said gently as Diana sat and put her face in her hands. "You were traumatized and went into cryo with the trauma fresh. Small wonder you have flashbacks to such horror. Maybe we can help, but only if you allow it."

"I..." Diana swallowed hard. "I can't. I cannot allow anyone else into my mind. I...honor you for the thought. But I cannot."

"That makes us sad." The other said quietly. "But we have no right to compel you. If we did, we would be no better than the Orokin who used our kind as weapons."

"You..." Diana swallowed again, staring at the form in front of her. " _You_ are infested?"

"This form is a singular representation of a number of minds that are joined together. A mass mind." The other said quietly. "We are not..." She paused and then made a face. "It is hard to describe, but we work very hard to stay sane. The Caretakers work very hard to help us stay sane. To keep us from going feral. But to answer your question, yes. We are all infected with the Technocyte virus. So, yes. We are all Infested."

"I... " Diana shook her head. "No. You can't be. I mean... I have _seen_ Infested. _Fought_ Infested. I watched them kill the one I was in service to. You are nothing like that."

"This is not real, Tenno Diana." The other said gently. "If you saw our true form, you would freak just surely as you did when you arrived. We are tending you. You will sleep until we can return you to the dojo. Iriana is...a bit upset. Both with what happened to you and what she went through. Mishka is helping her. You did a good thing, aiding her and Janna. Thank you. We love her too."

"I have to put you in a different mental category." Diana said after a moment. "I mean... I am not rational about Infested. But... you are not like them."

"No one _blames_ you for that." The other replied. But then her gaze seemed to spear the assassin. "Does your clan know?" Diana stiffened and the other shook her head. "Iriana doesn't. Not yet. She will soon. She will detect it and _freak_."

"I..." Diana shook her head. "I can't talk about that."

"Fine." The other said with a touch of heat. " _We_ will talk. _You_ just sit there and listen, work to recover your equilibrium. The Executors and their servants wielded power under Orokin that was equal to the Emperor." The not-human woman shook her head. "We are not going to debate forms of government or the follies of the past. There has to be some kind of check on _any_ power wielded by humans. No matter how noble or altruistic some may be, there will _always_ be others who are the opposite. Always." Diana licked her lips and nodded. "The Executors were supposed to police each other and if they got _totally_ out of hand, the Emperor could get involved. As far as we know, that never happened. Close a few times, but never an actual purge." Diana shivered at that and the other nodded again. Just the _thought_ of an Imperial purge of the Executors' ranks scared Diana. With good reason, the Emperor had always wielded a _big_ hammer. Such a hammer _always_ caused massive collateral damage. "Your Executor was one of the good ones. But he too was bound by his oaths."

"Yes." Diana admitted. "We all were."

"How long do you have?" The other asked gently. Diana would not meet her eyes and the representation of the mass mind sighed. "Tenno Diana, we do not wish you to die. The fact that Iriana would not take it well is important, but not the only major consideration at this juncture. You are _needed_. _Every_ Tenno is needed, but you... A _Grandmaster_ Rectifier. You can do so much. _If_ you do not perish." Diana looked at the floor and her voice was small.

"But I must." The Tenno said quietly.

"It is the Law."


	15. Chapter 15

**Impossible**

"No..." Iriana begged as she stared at the pod that contained the still form of the Tenno who had become almost a friend. Diana slept, her face more peaceful than Iriana had ever seen it despite the fleshy tube that extended from her mouth, providing fluids, nutrients and oxygen."We have to do _something_."

The others in the room understood completely. Three other Tenno and a sentient Infested Ancient were with her as she watched Diana sleep. All were sad.

"Iriana." Jasmina reached out and pulled the shuddering Healer close. "There isn't anything we _can_ do. Even if she _allowed_ it, which she _won't_ , we can't _find_ it to _fix_ it. The failsafe was _designed_ that way. To be undetectable."

" _ **NO!**_ " Iriana screamed as she fell to her knees, tears falling. Her biological daughter went to her knees as well, pulling the sobbing Healer into a hug. "This is _wrong!_ "

"I know." Jasmina sounded as if she was fighting tears as well as she too knelt beside Iriana. "It isn't anything you did. It isn't anything _we_ did. Hell, it isn't even anything that lousy good for nothing _Executor_ did. Diana had a purpose and that purpose _ended_. She likely wouldn't have even gone into cryo if the Lotus hadn't pushed her to. No one has said, but I bet she didn't want to."

"I... I don't understand." Iriana said weakly as she hugged Mishka back. "She is not a slave. She wasn't a slave. Not like... they tried to do to me and Janna."

"No." Jamina said softly, taking the sobbing Healer's hands in her own. "And therein lies the problem. She served willingly. She chose her path and her eventual fate. She did so _willingly_. This was and _is_ her choice. Do we have the _right_ to gainsay it for _our_ benefit?"

"Why would she _let_ them do that to her?" Iriana exclaimed. Not quite a scream. More a moan. "To steal her future from her? To deny her a life of her own?"

"Iriana..." Jasmina gave the sobbing healer a shake. Not a gentle one. "Think. You showed us your memory of what she did. You saw her fight. She held off Will, Quais _and_ Ric. Three of the best hand to hand combatants in the clan at _the same time_. Tell me she is not scary."

"Well, yes." Iriana said weakly. "But she is not a bad person!"

"That is a good thing, Healer." Elenia was standing a bit apart, but her posture was also sorrowful. "If she were an enemy or went off the deep end, I doubt _any_ of us would be safe. From _Nikis_ on _down_." Iriana stiffened but then she bowed her head. "And that is the _point_. Executors and their retinues had insane power. They could _not_ be allowed to go rogue. To act on their own. They _could not._ The damage they could do boggled the mind. Then add what she is. Not just a servant, no. Not even just a Tenno Warrior. A Rectifier. An assassin sent to 'rectify' situations that could not be handled any other way."

"She was so kind to Janna. So gentle even when the girl was goaded into doing something dumb." Iriana said weakly. "She is not a monster. I... I can't just let her die."

"Of course not, Mom." Mishka said softly, hugging Iriana again. "But we cannot take free will from her either." She snorted. "Might make her mad."

 _We do not want that._ Healer piped in from where it stood, hovering over the pod Diana slept in. _She is dealing fairly well with the revelation of our existence, but we should not push her. We can do as you wish, Healer. We can grow her new eyes but she should not be here when she wakes._

"Thank you, Healer." Iriana scrubbed her face with the sleeve of her bodysuit. She shook her head. "Could Michelle or Eliza take her service?"

"No." Jasmina said flatly. "According to the limited communication I had with Michelle, the Princess offered and Diana declined. Diana said she was bound by her oaths _not_ to get involved with the Royal Family."

"And _that_ was to keep the two branches completely separate." Mishka said softly. The others all nodded. "That sucks."

"Yeah." Elenia bowed her head. "From everything you said, Iriana, I think I for one would like her. But the trauma she endured when her Executor was killed left its mark. She will _not_ be able to deal with us. Not in the real world. The only way she is managing virtually is she doesn't see the mass mind _as_ Infested."

"Pity." Iriana said weakly, staring at the pod. "I didn't think... I mean. She was in danger and I didn't think."

"She was about to suicide." Mishka said softly. "Not surprising you would act to save a life. It is what you _do_ , Mom. But she cannot stay here." The others nodded.

"We will get her back to the dojo, Iriana." Jasmina promised. "Mitchell and NightNova can carry her _and_ you with no chance of a portal being traced. The rest is up to her. Will she _accept_ new eyes if we do it? It is not guaranteed to work, but we will try."

"I think so." Iriana heaved a great sigh. "I will be ready to go when she is."

"It will be a couple of hours." Jasmina said with a grunt as she rose to her feet and pulled Iriana to hers effortlessly. Mishka rose as well. "Mishka, get your mom something to eat. And this is an order, Healer: _No_ business talked while you are here. It has been _far_ too long since you have visited, Gentle Dreams." Iriana smiled a bit sadly as Mishka darted away. "I want the latest _gossip_."

"I have missed you too, Fire Heart." Iriana reached out to hug the Ember Prime. "And you as well, Mind of Light." She pulled Elenia into the embrace. "I just...wish..."

 _We know._ The multiple mental voice response was silent, but it was kind.

* * *

Avalon

The meeting was private. Anyone sane backed away as soon as they saw who was in said meeting. Even the Royal Guard stepped carefully when both Sun _and_ Nikis were in the same place at the same time. They were not stupid. When the Empress and her first daughter were also present? Not good. When all were upset? _Really_ not good.

"It cannot be done." Sun's warframe was torn and battered still, but his posture was firm as he stood. "Even if it could, she would not accept it."

"No." Eliza agreed. She shook her head. "I regret that more than I can say. What little I saw of her during the virtual session, I liked. I never dealt with the Executors before I took the crown." She grimaced. "This Gilliananhorisa, is it verified what she was? I never kept up with their ranks."

"It is verified." Nikis said flatly from where he stood by one wall. "What few records we have are corroborated by the interrogations. She was one of the newer ones." He shook his head. "Only four centuries old when Orokin fell."

"It boggles the mind to hear humans discussed as being four centuries old and 'new'." Michelle complained. "Still, they had access to everything. Didn't they?" Sun and Nikis both nodded and she made a face. "Wonderful."

"Yes." Eliza frowned in thought and memory. "Access to every weapon, every technology, most _secrets_. Not here." She qualified when Michelle's face took on an aspect of fear. "They were never allowed _here_. But they knew about it. I bet they even knew where it was."

"I wouldn't take that bet." Nikis admitted. "I dealt with them a bunch over the centuries. A few of them were reasonably sane. Not many. Not _enough_. Most of them would have given Caligula, the Marquis De Sade and Heinrich Himmler a run for their money in sheer viciousness." Michelle looked at him quizzically and he sighed. "Never mind. Bad people."

" _Very_ bad people." Eliza added with a grimace. "But not all?" She asked Nikis who nodded, manifestly against his will. "What about this Graj, who Diana worked for?"

"He was one of the good ones." Sun replied. "Sneaky, underhanded, pragmatic as hell and Machiavellian to the bone, but not capricious nor cruel for the sake of doing it. Most of what they did was sealed 'for the good of Orokin' and most of those records were lost. I dealt with Graj a few times though. He didn't hold that his will was the only law like some of them did. He knew how to deal with people, to seek compromises. Not all of them felt the need."

"Pity we lost him and got Gilliananhorisa instead." Eliza complained. "Any idea what she wants?"

"According to Diana and the others, to take power." Sun replied. "Admittedly, Diana said she wasn't entirely cogent when Gilliananhorisa was explaining her goals. No one will blame her for that. The last thing she saw before entering cryo was the ship she had lived on with the Executor drifting dead in space after she had sterilized it completely, killing every last living thing aboard it down to the molecular level." Michelle and Eliza both shuddered and that. Nikis shook his head. "She was more than a bit traumatized by that."

"No one will blame her for _that_." Michelle said firmly. "I _know_ what Saryn warframes are capable of. I wore one. I feel we owe her something. She served with honor."

"More than anyone knows." Sun said quietly. "I did manage to find _some_ records. Before she served the Executor as a Rectifier, she was detailed as a bodyguard to an under-attaché. Her protectee was snatched by Intelligence." Everyone froze at that and he bowed his head. "The man was a traitor. He was selling military secrets to the highest bidder. We snatched him, wrung him out and then he was executed. The records were sealed and she never knew. Graj took her back and made her a Rectifier. _He_ never knew as far as we could determine."

"I hate politics." Nikis snarled softly. " _And_ Intelligence. No offense." He nodded to Sun who shrugged.

"How do you think _I_ feel, Grandmaster?" Eliza asked sourly. "No matter _what_ I do in such situations, I always come away feeling dirty." She shook her head. "So. What can we hypothesize that Gilliananhorisa will try?"

"Well, she knows better than to brainwash Tenno, especially now after what Iriana did." Nikis said with a dark chuckle. "But any humans or Grineer she encounters are fair game." He shook his head. "She may be able to do the same to single feral Infested. If so, she may be able to influence _them_. That is the Caretaker's fear anyway."

"This just keeps getting better and better." Eliza said with a sigh.

"She has lost three of her servants." Sun added. "Diana, the one that Carlos captured and Viveka who was absolute _font_ of information." His dark chuckle matched Nikis'. Michelle winced a little. No one else reacted. "She knew more than Gilliananhorisa likely realized or the Executor would have had stricter controls in place. As it was, she did not survive the interrogation but I got everything she knew before she expired." Everyone looked at him and he shook his head. "No tricks this time. You want her energy, Nikis?"

"Not particularly." Nikis grumbled but held out his hand anyway. "The database might be a bit too good for her, but it _is_ the job." A pulse of energy passed from the Loki to the Nekros. Was that a tiny scream that sounded as the energy flared around Nikis and then was gone? If so, it cut out and no one commented. He shook his head. "You really messed her up." There was no condemnation in his tone, just fact.

"She proved difficult." Sun said after a moment. "I do take responsibility. When the Executor approached me, I felt it was a golden opportunity to set up a clandestine cell of operatives for deniable operations. I never expected _this_. She honestly believes that what she is doing is best for humanity."

"Does she know Mom lives and rules?" Michelle asked. Sun shook his head. Michelle made a face. "Would that information make any difference?"

"Unlikely." Sun said after a moment's thought. "She knew Eliza wasn't interested in ruling. She knew that Eliza ran away and was not interested in going back. She will probably think that Eliza would not make a good ruler." Everyone looked at him and the Interrogator shrugged. "The Eliza who lived among us would not have. She was far more interested in 'justice' than 'compromise'."

"That is true." Eliza said quietly. "I have had a long time to learn how to rule and how _not_ to. Do we know if any of the Executors were involved in the events that led to the Collapse?" Sun shook his head.

"We cannot know for sure." The Interrogator said after a moment. "It is entirely possible but the personalities involved would not have meshed well. The Executors did _not_ like sharing power with _anyone_. The Emperor, they did so grudgingly because they had no _choice_. Anyone else was beneath them. Some, like Graj, moderated things a bit. Brought a semblance of humanity to the group. Most of the others? They would have done it in a _heartbeat_ if they thought they could get away with it. But they knew better. Most of them worked with Tenno or _had_ worked with Tenno. They knew what would happen, if not how fast and brutally the Lotus would respond."

"Diana mentioned a 'purge'." Michelle said slowly and froze as all three of the others winced in unison. "Do I want to know?"

"It was enshrined in the original Codex for Orokin that if any group in the government got too far out of line, they could be purged." Eliza said softly, her eyes far away. "But the wording is...rather strong."

"There is no moderation." Nikis clarified when Michelle looked blank. "Someone steps out of line far enough, they get smashed. Utterly."

"And what is the problem?" Michelle asked carefully. "Obviously, there is one."

"It is a question of scale, Michelle." Eliza's voice was flat, but her eyes were worried. "If someone had gone to the Executors and told them that the Royal Family was planning a coup, that the Emperor had been suborned and everyone was enslaving Tenno, they would have done it. Purged."

"And?" Michelle asked, worried.

"Every. _Single_. Member of the Royal Family would have _died_." Eliza nodded as Michelle paled. "Yes. Me. You. Your sisters. Michael. _Every_ one even _remotely_ connected to us. _Every_ living member of the Royal Family and _every_ relative for at least four generations. There is _no_ room for equivocation. A purge was the ultimate _hammer_. The collateral damage would have been..." She swallowed hard. "This is why no one ever _did_ it. Simple, pragmatic and _brutal_ as hell."

"That was Talia in a nutshell." Nikis said softly. "She tried very hard to be a good ruler. But there _were_ limits. Pushing those limits was _unwise_. She understood that for some situations, there was no 'Overkill'. The Executors _all_ knew that if they stepped too far out of line, the Emperor or Empress could do the same to _them_. Made them... wary."

"So... why not declare such now? She is obviously out of control and she is the only one left." Michelle asked carefully. Eliza winced hard and Nikis just shook his head again. "What?"

"The wording is a bit different for Executors, Princess." Sun said quietly. "For them, they don't have relatives. They have servants. Slaves. Retinues. Anyone who has been touched by one would be purged." Michelle froze again and Sun nodded. "Diana. Janna. Iriana."

"Oh." Michelle swallowed hard.

"It is not going to happen." Eliza said sadly. "I won't order such. I am the only one who _can_ and I _won't_. Karl's Shadow is already moving on them. Can we assist in any way?"

"They won't take any assistance from Intelligence." Sun said with a sigh. "The Trojan protocol demands a full sweep of everything we have. That will take time. I will-" He broke off as the Empress raised a hand.

" _You_ will let yourself take time to heal or _we_ will be displeased." The royal 'we' was firm and clear. Sun bowed his head but did not argue. "Grandmaster Nikis. Is there anything else we can do?"

"There is one other oddity." Nikis said after a moment. "Sun, did you see anything of the ones who aided you and Diana in that virtual world?"

"Only a glimpse." Sun shook his head. "Not enough for an identification. Neither were anyone I knew. And they were...different."

"Different?" Eliza nearly pounced on the word. "How so?"

"They were a Rhino warframe and an Excalibur warframe." Sun said after a moment. "But neither was a configuration I knew. Not prime warframes. Not regular ones. There was gold, but the trim was in places that I am not familiar with. The insignia also was unfamiliar."

"A _different_ kind of warframe?" Michelle sounded stunned. As well she should. No one had made different warframes since the Orokin had made copies of Tenno to fight the Sentients when they had been losing their war.

"I wish I knew." Sun replied. "It has been bothering me. Nikis?" He asked when the Nekros grunted.

"I am going to go talk to Diana again." Nikis said after a moment. "You saw an Orthos Prime." Sun nodded. "Wielded by a Rhino." Sun nodded again as both Eliza and Michelle stiffened.

"Karl wore a Rhino warframe and wielded an Orthos Prime." Eliza said slowly. Sun and Nikis both nodded. "But his energy...?" She trailed off as Nikis growled.

"His energy was torn apart." Nikis snarled. "Nothing to save. Nothing I could do. I hate that feeling."

"If there is anything we can do, Grandmaster Nikis, tell us." Eliza said firmly. "I have already ordered the weapons in our own arsenals to be destroyed."

"Don't." Sun and Nikis both chorused. Eliza stared at Michelle and both stared at the white and black warframes.

"Better to _have_ it and not _need_ it than _need_ it and not _have_ it." Nikis growled. "Hate them but.. they are effective. And if there is one thing we _know_ can kill an Executor..."

" _That_ kind of weapon can do it."


	16. Chapter 16

**Ancestor's Honor  
**

Diana wasn't awake. She knew this. She had been talking to the other. The not human being who had been in the virtual world with her. She couldn't see that being as Infested. She knew -intellectually- that it had been telling the truth, especially when Iriana had come in to check on her. The two knew each other well, but there was a small reserve of wariness from both. But Diana hadn't focused on that. Just looking at the Healer had told Diana that the other woman knew the truth.

That Diana was on short time now.

The assassin accepted that. It wasn't something she _wanted_. But she _understood_ far better than even most Tenno just how far the limits could be stretched. She had spent a long time working to curb people who _didn't_ understand that there were limits.

Iriana hadn't pressed and Diana was glad of that. She truly liked the Healer. She had known Healers before and most of them had been likable, but there was something more about Iriana. Maybe because she had started a tech and been promoted? She understood how the world actually worked, not just how it was _supposed_ to work. _Big_ difference there.

Then Janna had come into the virtual world and the youngest Tenno had spent a great deal of time with Diana. There simply wasn't enough time to tell Janna everything. Diana regretted that a great deal. Janna was young, bright and her potential staggered the hard bitten assassin at times. But Janna was also hard in her own way. Her experiences prior to becoming Tenno had left their mark and she would be long getting past some of that. But she would. Diana was sure of that. Janna would be a credit to the Tenno and an honor to her ancestors. Iriana and the representation of the mass mind had both been kind, had let the sponsor and sponsored talk as much as they wanted.

But finally, Janna and Iriana had left. They had work to do in the real world and no matter how well compressed, time _did_ still run in virtual worlds. Diana had slept and now, she was awake. Sort of.

But she wasn't alone.

"You are very brave." The Excalibur warframe that sat beside her wasn't anyone she knew. It wasn't a Prime Excalibur. It wasn't a regular one. It was different. She stared at him, incurious. "I wanted to talk to you, sister. Do you mind?"

"No." Diana said after a moment to of perusing what he had said. "This... is not real." She managed. The Excalibur shook his head. "I see."

"I cannot go into the real world anymore, sister." The Excalibur said sadly. "Things changed significantly and I had to change with them." He shrugged a little. "Better than oblivion, I guess."

"Why talk to me?" Diana asked, wondering why she was so calm. She didn't know this Tenno. If a strange Excalibur had walked up to her in the real world, every hackle would have risen. Paranoia was her life. But now? She was calm. She could feel he meant no harm. Somehow.

"We may not get another chance." The Excalibur said sadly. "And Nikis is going to want to talk to you about what you saw. He is smart, that old man. He will probably figure it out. Question is: What will he do after? This is... a mess."

"Why did you help me?" Diana asked plaintively. "I mean... I am no one special."

"You are wrong, sister." The Excalibur reached out and patted her hand. "You are so wrong. We helped you because you will have the chance to become like us. You won't go into the database." Diana shook her head. "Too many secrets. Too many oaths. Too much chance of some other shade discovering a way to read your mind. You won't let that happen."

"No." Diana agreed. "But... 'become like you'?"

"Tenno serve." The other said softly. "We do not rule. As the First commanded, so we obey." He bowed his head and Diana did as well. "You served with honor, sister. If _anyone_ has earned a long rest, you have. But we need you. If you so choose, we will aid you, help you along the path. But it has to be _your_ choice. We know better than to cross Nikis."

"He will learn about this." Diana said weakly. "I can't hide things from him."

"Don't bother." The other reassured her. "The Shadows are rising. There are more of them than there are of us. But it does not matter. Now and forever, we are Tenno."

"We are Tenno." Diana was floating. Or falling.

"Whatever you choose, sister, you are not alone." The Excalibur said gently. "Rest well and don't even try to lie to Nikis."

"Wouldn't...dream of it..."

* * *

She woke. She was lying on a... Diana's thoughts came to an abrupt halt as light seared into her brain. She jerked and clamped her eyes shut again.

"What the-?" Diana cracked her eyelids again and jerked as she stared up at the dimly glowing illumination pane on the ceiling.

"We managed to implant new nerves and get them to take." A familiar voice sounded from nearby and Diana turned her head to see a female Tenno in a medical tunic sitting by one wall. Diana had never seen her in the flesh before, but there was no mistaking Healer Iriana. She looked awful. She had been crying, but now, her face turned radiant as Diana stared at her.

"Healer." Diana said slowly. The other woman nodded. "I..." She swallowed hard as emotion tore through her. "You..."

"It took a lot of work, Diana." The Healer rose and stepped towards the bed on which Diana was lying. "May I?" She indicated the bed and Diana nodded, too choked up to speak. Iriana sat and took Diana's closest hand in her own. "We wronged you. We have made what restitution we can."

"Where am I?" Diana asked. The room looked normal.

"Back at the dojo." Iriana wasn't crying. Not quite. "You slept the whole trip, which is good. You needed it. I didn't even think how you would react. I should have. They are my friends and they _still_ creep me out occasionally. You? Coming at you cold? My friends were ashamed that they had to knock you out."

"You have the _oddest_ friends, Healer." Diana complained.

"Guilty as charged." Iriana smiled, but it was forlorn. "I was told. I... I am upset. But I have to accept your choice. If I tried to do otherwise, I would be no better than that lousy Executor." She squeezed Diana's hand. "And it might make you mad."

"I would never hurt you, Healer." Diana said softly, squeezing Iriana's hand back. "Your clan has a right to its anger. My life was forfeit when I was captured. This..." She waved her free hand to indicate the dojo and everything. "This is far more than I expected."

"And far _less_ than you deserve." Iriana scrubbed her free hand across her face. "To do what you did, to serve as you did... I can barely imagine what it was like. I think I am glad of that." Diana did not know what to say, so she remained silent. Iriana squeezed her hand again. "Nikis wants to talk to you. I told him to wait."

" _You_ told _Nikis_ to _wait_." Diana could not keep a note of disbelief from her voice.

"He has his area of responsibility, I have mine." Iriana said mildly. "We try not to step on each other's toes. It gets loud when we do." Diana just looked at her and Iriana made a face. "He isn't stupid nor is he omniscient."

"Just old, powerful and _scary_." Diana made a face as Iriana chuckled.

"True." The Healer admitted. "You should have no impairment, but we should keep an eye on you just the same. The nerves had to be replaced in their entirety." Diana stared at the Healer and then reached up with her off hand to touch her face. It felt normal to her fingers.

"You...replaced my nerves." Diana said slowly. Iriana nodded. "Why?"

"Before you say we wasted the effort, we did not." Iriana said calmly. "You are not lost to us _yet_. The clan has asked for you to teach what you can, to Janna and to others. You are a master swordswoman and we do not want the skill lost if we can help it."

"I would be honored." Diana said with a smile.

* * *

An hour later

She was aware of his scrutiny even as the training room went hushed. Janna stiffened from where she had been practicing a parry with her skana and sheathed it. She moved to stand beside Dina who turned to see what she had expected. The pitch black Nekros stood in the doorway, looking at her. She bowed to him.

"This was fast." Nikis said calmly as he strode to where Diana stood. He waved irritably and everyone else resumed their work. Janna did not. Diana waved a warning to her student and moved to stand between Janna and Nikis. Probably not needed, but better safe than sorry.

"I don't have time to laze about." Diana replied evenly. She met the Nekros gaze without fear. He nodded to her.

"The Elders are calling." Nikis said calmly. "What will you tell them?"

"What _can_ I tell them?" Diana replied. "I am bound by the oaths I swore. You know." Her words were not a question but Nikis nodded anyway. "A question." Nikis nodded again and Diana continued. "Am I under their authority?"

"That is a very good question." Nikis admitted. "My gut says 'No'. You were bound to another and have sworn oaths to protect secrets that must be kept."

"The Law won't like that." Janna murmured.

"The _Law_ can kiss my ass." Nikis snapped. "Never had much use for people telling me what I could and could not do." Diana looked at him and he shrugged. "Rules have their place. But most of the stuff _should_ be common sense. Under Orokin?" He hawked and spat.

"Yeah." Diana agreed, thinking about some of the silliness she had been through. "Without rules, we are just a mob."

"Will you go?" Nikis asked. Diana nodded even as Janna made a small cry of worry. "I stand with you." At that, every eye on the room landed on the Nekros who shrugged.

"No offense, Grandmaster." Diana said quietly. "But I would prefer not to shoot my way out." Nikis chuckled darkly and she shook her head. "I never fought the Law and I am not going to start now."

"Fair enough." Nikis had a smile in his voice now. "I give you my word, I won't shoot first." Diana tilted her head looking at him and he grunted. "Take it or leave it, girl. I don't let people shoot at me and get away with it. Gets unhealthy if I don't keep the rep up."

"And you standing there looking scary won't make people wet themselves?" Diana's grin was wicked.

"Hey, it ain't on _me_ if people got weak bladders." Butter might not have melted in Nikis' mouth. Diana laughed and then nodded. "I will wait at the portal chamber."

"I won't be long." Diana promised and gave the ancient Nekros a bow that he returned. Then he turned and left the room. Diana stared after him for a moment and then turned to Janna whose posture was frightened. "Be strong, Janna. Our clan is with you even if _I_ cannot be."

"I want to be selfish." Janna slowly knelt into sieza, her Trinity warframe quivering with repressed emotion. "But that is not the Way."

"No." The unarmored Tenno moved to her student and laid a hand on her helmet. "You have learned well. The clan will aid you. Listen to them. Be true to the Code, Tenno and guard your right side." Janna laughed just a little and nodded.

"Diana?" Tiana's voice sounded from the side and Diana turned to see the Warlord's Nyx Prime walking towards her with Will's Excalibur Prime.

"I am called to face the Elders, Warlord." Diana said quietly. "Nikis has sworn to stand with me. I am honestly not sure how to take that." She said a bit dubiously.

"Nikis plays his own games, but he is honorable in his own way." Tiana mused. "If he said such, he will do so and woe be it to anyone who offers you insult or violence. Do you wish one of us as well?"

"No." Diana shook her head. "The clan has many duties. I am technically still on sick leave." Tiana just looked at her and Diana shrugged. "Technically. Better that I do not have a warframe, I think. Less frightening."

"Will you take a gift?" TIana asked. Diana froze as Will stepped forward, a wrapped bundle in his hands. From the size and shape, it was a sword. "From us, Michelle and Michelle's mother."

"Warlord... I..." Diana trailed off as Will knelt! Tenno knelt to no one, but this wasn't a subservient bow. No. He was offering her the wrapped sword. She knelt in front of him, just within reach. He extended the blade to her and she took it. Just the feel alone told her what it was. She stared as she undid the wrappings.

The blade was long and slightly curved. The hilt was wrapped in an ancient style, a leather like substance alternating layers over a textured surface with a ring at the end that held two ribbons. But... this blade was different. At the guard a golden assembly arced from the hilt over the blade. Not just a decoration, the prong could be used to trap an opponent's blade. A Nikana such as she had preferred, but not _just_ a Nikana. A Nikana _Prime_. A normal Nikana -not that _any_ Nikana was considered such- was only to be used by a master who had spent decades learning his or her craft. This was a _grandmaster's_ weapon. It was literally priceless. It felt right in her hands as she held it still in the tube that ancient warriors had called a saya. Part of her wanted to deny the gift. The rest of her was awed by it.

"I... am honored." Diana bowed her head over the sword. "May my actions bring honor to the clan and to our ancestors."

"We know they will." Tiana nodded to Diana who rose with Will. "Go with our trust, Diana of Karl's Shadow. Know that wherever you go, you have our aid. Call and we will come. Hail Tenno."

"Hail Tenno." The soft chorus went around the room.

Diana did not trust her voice. She started off, Janna matching her. She looked at Janna but the Trinity did not falter or speak. It crossed Diana's mind that she _did_ need a guide so she did not argue. The walk was quick and very shortly they entered another room where Nikis stood by a portal platform. He nodded to the pair.

"They found that while combing the ancient arsenals for more of the energy destroying weapons." Nikis strode to the platform and Diana followed. "Eliza wasn't sure you would take it."

"I do not feel worthy of such a thing. But I will do my best to honor the blade." Diana replied. She gave Janna a bow and the Trinity returned it. "If we do not meet again in this life, Janna of Karl's Shadow, may we meet in the next. Be true to the Code."

"I will." From her tone, Janna was fighting tears.

Familiar golden light flared around them and Diana forced herself back into ancient patterns. The portals were fairly unpleasant in or out of a warframe. But she was not going to throw up. She was _not_. Gasps of shock sounded and she opened her eyes to see a pair of guard staring at the Nekros. From the looks on their faces, both had wet themselves.

"I ain't here to _start_ trouble this time." Nikis said mildly. "You don't want any, do you?" He asked the guards who shook their heads quickly. "Good boys. The Elders are waiting."

Diana started off towards the single door from the chamber, her hand on her sword hilt. Nikis followed, his hands on his pistols. Everyone made way for them. Well, for Nikis. They were not stupid.

"'This time?'" Diana asked quietly as they walked.

"I don't deal so well with politicos." Nikis muttered. "Gets me grumpy." Diana looked at him and he shrugged. "Made an impression."

"I bet." Diana put just the right hint of derision in her tone and Nikis chuckled.

"I like you, girl." Nikis admitted. "But that ain't necessarily a good thing."

"Yeah." Diana agreed. "When people like us start liking others, they aren't around long." Nikis glanced at her and then nodded. "But it beats either of us _disliking_ someone."

"That it does." The ancient Nekros agreed. A door ahead had two guards who stiffened on seeing the mismatched pair. "I won't start anything." This was much of a promise as she would get.

"Just..." She paused. Something... Nikis looked at her and she shook her head. When she spoke it was very quiet. "Ward yourself. Something is wrong."

"Wrong?" Nikis did not alter his pace, but his fingers were slipping into the trigger guards of his pistols. "What?"

"Not sure." Diana said softly as the guards moved aside and opened the door. The pair entered and the door closed behind them. Diana jerked as multiple 'thunks' sounded. Locked. "Oh crap."

The room was fairly large and well lit. A large circular table dominated it. Ten forms in robes sat around it, all looking at Diana and Nikis with expressions that ranged from disbelief to _terror_.

Diana was in motion before her brain caught up with what she saw. Her Nikana was in hand and slicing, batting two ribboned darts out of the air from where they had been flying at Nikis. The Nekros retreated a pace, a dark shimmering surrounded him and his pistols were in hand.

"That was rude." Diana's voice was flat. " _Show_ yourself, Shaun!"

"No."


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry for the delay. Computer died. Back now.**

* * *

 **When Masters Clash**

She wasn't sure where he could be. The _obvious_ place was under the table. But that was a bit _too_ obvious. Her gaze swept the room, her blade held in front of her, ready to parry any more of the Orokin design darts that would pass through almost any known energy defenses in seeking their target.

"Diana." Nikis didn't sound worried, but then again, it wasn't the first time someone had tried to kill him.

"Shaun is here. You are a target." Diana said flatly, her eyes roving. "Me too I bet. Maybe the Elders as a whole. _Don't move!_ " She snapped as two of the Elders started to move. They froze. "He has likely rigged the table." She shook her head slowly. "Or your chairs."

"Even someone like you shouldn't have been able to get in here." Nikis said mildly. Diana just shrugged one shoulder and he chuckled sourly. "Point taken."

Getting into and out of places that she wasn't supposed to had been one of the major facets of her job. Assassins throughout history had done such. Thing was, most of those assassins had been amateurs. It only took a fair amount of luck to do such a thing if one didn't care if one lived or died. But Diana was a Rectifier. She had been trained to do what ancient shinobi had done. Get in, do the job and get out without being seen. She had never been a spy, but on occasion she had acted the part. Getting information had been a pain at times. She couldn't simply walk into an Orokin data repository and _ask_ for information on how to assassinate someone after all. Even under Orokin, that would have raised more than a few eyebrows. So, she had learned other means of getting information.

"I can see why she wants me dead." Diana replied flatly. "I am not yet. So, every moment I am out of her control, I am leaking intel that will hurt her operations. You..." She shook her head slightly. Not dropping her guard. "She has to be desperate to send Shaun after _you_."

No one sane tried to assassinate someone like Nikis. It might make him mad.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Nikis sounded _bored_ now. "Gonna stand there all day?"

"No." Diana took a step closer to the table, every sense on hyperalert. Then another. "You cannot win, Shaun." Diana was calm. She felt at peace now. Win or lose, she was committed. "Kill me or not, the clan will go on. Kill Nikis and he will be more than bit miffed with you. Kill the Elders..." She froze in place as a horrible thought occurred. If Shaun had been sent to kill the _Elders_ , no one would leave this room alive. Not her, not the Elders, not Nikis. Not Shaun. The repercussions would be horrific. Diana slumped a bit. "Grandmaster Nikis..."

"Do what you gotta, girl." Nikis sounded kind now. "I got this."

"Right." Diana took a deep breath and focused her mind as she had been taught. She could sense Tenno all around her. She could feel the Elders. She could feel Nikis although he felt odd to her mind. And yes, she could sense Shaun. She held her sword ready as she turned to the right, her eyes sweeping to find a tiny air vent set high on one wall. It didn't look as if a warframe would fit in it, but she knew looks could be deceiving. "You will not succeed here, Rectifier." Diana said flatly. "My orders are clear."

"As are mine." The voice was firm. It came from nowhere. Throwing one's voice was not a hard technique to learn and useful in all sorts of situations. Two dark streaks of metal came hurtling out of the vent. She was in motion before the blades had traveled halfway, her Nikana lashing out to bat them out of the air. Again, aimed at Nikis.

"All you are going to do with those is make him mad." Diana said calmly as she stalked towards the air vent. "You think the _Grandmaster of the Dead_ is not protected against such?" She paused and then retreated a step. One of the Elders made a noise of confusion and she spoke again. "He knows this. He knows that even if he blows the room, it likely won't kill Nikis unless it is an energy destroying weapon. Using such against Tenno tends to make a godsawful mess as Gillie found out." She took another step back. "So..." She shook her head. "He is not there."

"There where _is_ he?" A female Elder demanded.

Diana did not respond. She was focused on what she felt. She could feel Shaun, but his energy was odd. No. It was fading. Some kind of decoy.

"Don't distract her!" Nikis snapped from where he stood. "This is her fight. Let her fight it."

Utter silence fell. No one seemed to be breathing as Diana stepped back again. She was almost to the table. She couldn't see Shaun. She couldn't sense him. So... She had to outthink him. If she was the target, she was acutely vulnerable outside of her warframe. Nikis... No. The blades were a distraction. Those wouldn't kill such an ancient and powerful Tenno no matter how many hit him. The Elders? No. If he had wanted them dead, they would be. She _was_ the target.

"You cannot win here, Shaun." Diana said calmly, her eyes sweeping in trained patterns. Patterns that Shaun knew. She had no choice. This wasn't going to be pretty. "You leave me no choice."

Everyone in the room - _Nikis included!_ \- gasped as her form wavered and vanished. She was in motion, but so was _Shaun_.

* * *

Metal clashed. Again and again. Sparks flew from near one wall, but nothing was visible! Nikis' pistols tracked the sparks but there was no target.

"How can she do that without a warframe?" One of the Elders asked, voice hushed.

"She can't." Nikis sounded sad now. "It will kill her." More than one of the Elders jerked as the invisible battle flowed around the room. "Don't _move_!" He commanded. "You get in her way and she will cut you down! She can't _see_ you."

"Then how is she _fighting?_ " Another asked, even more hushed.

"There are more senses than sight." Elder Mavri sounded awed. He nodded to Nikis who nodded back. "Is there _anything_ we can do?"

"Pray." Nikis did not react as unseen metal scraped the wall nearby, leaving a gouge that would take the dedicated nanites in the wall several minutes to fix. Orokin tech was incredibly durable even now. He put words to actions, speaking ancient words to ward the sister he couldn't even feel now. The one defending him. He did send a holographic shade of a Grineer to check the table for traps. As much as he detested politics, the Elders were needed. Then again... It might all be moot.

"Pray she wins or none of you will leave this room alive."

* * *

It wasn't like training. In her earliest training, Diana had learned to use every sense she had. Her warframe would grant her access to far more wavelengths than humans could sense. But this was more. And less.

She couldn't sense Shaun. Her eyes were closed because the field she had encased herself in blocked _all_ wavelengths. She wouldn't be able to see until she dropped it. In a warframe, she would have been able to shunt her awareness into a remote observer, use that to guide her attacks. She had done just that once to end a particularly vile Orokin who had loved hypnotism. He had felt secure in his fortified domicile, with every wall sweeping coils of disorienting light and energy. She had disabled most of the sensor feeds and walked right through his defenses. He had been very surprised when he had looked up and seen her blade coming for him. Shaun had almost certainly dropped such a device to speak to her, to pull her into the position he wanted her in to strike. She couldn't see him, but now? _He_ couldn't see _her_.

The odds were even.

She felt jarring impacts as her Nikana slashed and cut, each blow blocked. The instinctive counterattacks were blocked in turn. She wasn't sure what weapon Shaun was using, but it felt longer than her blade. Maybe a Tonbo again? Maybe something else. His blows were far stronger than hers. He was in a warframe and she was not. But a warframe, just like every other tool in the Tenno's possession, was simply an extension of their will. Diana's will was strong. As strong as Shaun's. They were equally matched.

But he wasn't alone!

Something warned her and Diana jerked away from the combat as _something_ tore through where she had been. To her diminished senses, it seemed like a shadow. A Shadow. She snarled to herself and redoubled her attack. Was Shaun slowing?

No! He was holding her in place!

Diana dove to the side as the odd shadowy thing tore through where she had been but this time, there were more of them. She couldn't avoid them all. She cut through one and it vanished, but more and more of them were crowding around her, swamping her limited senses. She was being overwhelmed.

Why wasn't Shaun striking? He could, she knew that. He knew where she was just as she... she froze momentarily as horrid realization dawned. He didn't want her dead. He wanted her subverted. Like _he_ was. He had been struck down in that virtual world. _Had_ he survived? Or had he been taken over?

 _ **No.**_ The word was silent but strong and she felt a few of the shadows recoil from her vehemence. She felt insubstantial things seeping through her even as she swung. More of the shadows vanished, but more and more of them came. She was being dragged down.

" _ **NO!**_ " Diana screamed as she felt the total occlusion shield that surrounded her fall. Gasps and screams sounded all around her as she saw and felt darkness clinging all around her. She threw a pulse of power at where she knew Shaun had to be. It was all she could do before they had her. "It is _me_ they want! Nikis! STOP-!"

* * *

Nikis was firing even as the shadows wavered and vanished, Diana clutched in their midst. The shots that would have torn her body to pieces passed clear through her insubstantial form and impacted the wall to screams from the Elders. Then the female assassin was gone. Nikis ignored the cries from the Elders. Diana's pulse hit something and his pistols tracked and fired without conscious thought. The Chroma warframe suddenly was visible, it's surface marred by dark scrabbling _things_. Nikis fired again and again and the Chroma fell to one knee. His Tonbo fell and lay still even as the warframe tried to rise. Nikis fired again and the Chroma slumped further.

Shaun's hands dipped to his sides, but Nikis placed his shots carefully, tearing the holsters for the assassin's knives asunder. That wouldn't destroy them, but it _would_ render them unusable for a time. The Nekros stalked forward even as he reloaded his Magnus revolvers.

"Where did they take her?" Nikis did not raise his voice and more than one of the Elders recoiled as he strode right up to the mostly fallen Chroma.

 _You will lose, old fool._ The voice was not the same. It was Shaun, but not.

"Maybe, but not today." Nikis said flatly. His right hand pistol went to his side and the freed hand slammed down onto the Chroma's helmet. Everyone in the room winced away as darkness flowed from the Nekros to surround the fallen Chroma. Then something else seeped from his gauntlet. It was...liquid? "You have tasted power and think it makes you mighty, but there are _other_ powers."

 _We spit on your power, old man._ The other declared. _You have no-_ It broke off with a gasp that became a scream. _No!_

"Let's see how you like dealing with the _true_ darkness." Nikis declared. "Clear the room." He commanded. "There are no traps."

"Nikis." Mavri was the first to rise and when nothing happened, the others made haste for the door. It didn't open and two of them started working on the console beside it. "Can I help? We all misjudged her."

"No, you didn't." Nikis said sadly even as oily looking stuff spread across the Chroma who knelt frozen under his hand. "She is what she is, just as I am what I am. She would be the first to say not to trust her. Out." He snapped. "You do _not_ want to be in here when the others get here."

"'Others'?" Mavri asked as he moved to the door that the other Elders had open now. "Nikis... what are you doing?"

"Don't worry, Mavri." Nikis said with a soft, evil laugh. "We will clean up the mess."

Mavri stared at Nikis, then at the Chroma. Then the Elder gave a sharp nod and left the room. The door clunked closed behind him. The Chroma was struggling in the viscous liquid that surrounded him now and Nikis shook his head.

"Might as well let the boy relax." The ancient Nekros said with a grunt. "You are gonna need your strength."

"What have they done, Nikis?" The Atlas warframe that appeared nearby was familiar. Jon Whitehorse was _not_ happy. "Where is Diana?"

"Kid is possessed." Nikis said as he retracted his hand. The oily substance seemed to waver for a moment and then it cracked! No... What was _underneath_ it was cracking. The warframe! A long, drawn out groan sounded as the now hardened substance cracked off. Cloth and flesh shone underneath it. In moments, a Tenno knelt, his bodysuit torn. Dark things were visible sweeping across his exposed skin. "Not sure by who."

Jon looked from Nikis to the kneeling Tenno and back. "You know what I will do if you give him to me."

"We don't have time to be gentle and we cannot know if any others in Intelligence have been suborned." Nikis said flatly. "Frankly? I kind of like your granddaughter. She is feisty."

"That she is." The shaman replied. He stepped closer to the kneeling Tenno who tried to recoil but obviously could not move. "Is there anything left of the host?"

"Dunno." Nikis stepped back, but both of his pistols were in hand now. Then he sighed. "She is gonna do it, isn't she?"

"You know what she is like." Jon said with a shudder that wasn't even remotely feigned. "If there is even a _chance_ , she will demand to try. Stubborn woman."

"Don't _start_ , Jon Whitehorse." A softer voice sounded as a new form appeared nearby.

The female Tenno had dark hair and piercing hazel eyes. She wore buckskins as if born to them. Then again, Margaret Whitehorse _had_ been born to such things. She had been a shaman in her own right and more. "Or we will _discuss_ things when we get back." Jon winced and did not say anything else. She had something in hand that was hard to make out. Then she started rubbing them together. _Seashells_? Nikis and Jon both stepped back as Margaret stepped forward.

 _We do not fear you._ The malevolence inside Shaun declared. Nikis and Jon both shook their heads in unison. _You cannot kill us!_

"Idiots." The Nekros and Atlas chorused.

"Kill you?" Margaret pulled at the front of her buckskins and a leather apron slid down her front. "Oh, I am not going to kill you." Her matter of fact tone had both of the male Tenno wincing. She laid down the seashell in her left hand and examined the one in her right. "But you will beg for it."

 _You cannot harm us!_ The other snapped.

"Old saying, fool." Nikis was shaking his head in disbelief. "'Don't let them give you to the women.' _One_ guess as to _why_." Whatever else was going to be said was cut off as the seashell on Margaret's hand started to glow with a pure white light. The darkness in Shaun was transfixed as the shell touched the Tenno's bodysuit and _sliced right through it_."We need to know where they took Diana, Margaret." His tone was oddly respectful.

Then again... one did _not_ anger a Shaman's _wife_.

* * *

Somewhere

Diana was fighting as she had never fought in her life. Her training had been extensive, brutal in many ways, but she had emerged stronger for the brutality. It hadn't been anything personal, they had simply been preparing her for one of the hardest jobs imaginable. She couldn't move for all of the dark things holding her but she strained anyway.

 _You will serve well._ The oily thought seeped into her from nowhere. She was bound on something hard, but she was Tenno, she would not surrender.

 _No, I won't._ Diana retorted even as light came up around her. She stilled. Gilliananhorisa stood by one wall, her face slack. Her visible flesh was crawling with black shadows and her golden suit was tarnished looking. _Ah, now we see the puppet again._

 _She has served well, but the time for duplicity has passed._ Gilliananhorisa didn't move as the voice seemed to move around Diana. The bound Tenno did not react as her Nikana appeared nearby. There was no sign of what was holding it. _A true weapon wielded by a true weapon. We will make them both serve us._

 _In your dreams._ Diana scoffed. _You may turn me into a puppet, but you_ **cannot** _make me serve you._

"You are mistaken, Diana." The voice was audible now. "You surprised me in the dreamscape, but I will have Iriana despite you. She will serve and the Tenno will fall."

"Yeah, yeah." Diana closed her eyes with a grunt. "Bring it on, Stalker. Either you kill me or my time runs out. Either way, you _lose_."

"You will not die until we allow it." The familiar red and black armor appeared beside her, reaching for controls. "You will serve and the Tenno will fall. You can reach them wherever they hide. You will kill them and avenge Orokin."

 _Funny._ A new voice sounded and Stalker spun with an oath as a not-quite-an-Excalibur warframe appeared nearby. A white not-quite-a-Rhino appeared beside him, Orthos Prime at the ready. _You don't serve Orokin anymore._

 _We_ **do** _._


	18. Chapter 18

**Strife in the Shadows**

Diana was hardly the only one amazed by the sudden entrance of the two odd looking warframes. Stalker seemed just as dumbfounded as she was. She tried to move and couldn't.

"You." Stalker said slowly when neither of the newcomers moved. "You dare to come here?" The Excalibur with the wings on his helmet just laughed.

"You know..." The odd looking Tenno said calmly. "You are one to talk. Using Gilliananhorisa I can see. Trying to snatch and subvert Iriana I can see. But using such weapons is not discrete in the _slightest_. It tends to draw a lot of attention. _Mine_ among others. Nikis _will_ find you. I just hope I am there to see it." For a moment, Diana felt hope flare, but then it died as Stalker laughed coldly.

"Begone phantom." Stalker snapped, turning back to where Diana lay helpless. "You are powerless here. I command here and you are not welcome." A growl came from the other as the not-quite-a-Rhino drew a long golden bladed staff. The not-quite-an-Excalibur held up a hand and the other froze in place. Stalker snorted and suddenly, _five_ red and black forms stood between the table Diana lay on and the pair of mismatched warframes. They held various weapons at the ready but none of them moved. Stalker bent back over Diana and his voice turned gentle. "Not long now, dear. You will serve nicely."

"Not you." Diana managed to grate out. "Never you." She tried a biofeedback technique to stop her heart, and was not surprised when it didn't work. "I serve Orokin, not renegades."

"I AM _**NOT**_ RENEGADE!" Stalker shouted. He stepped back from the table and shook his head. "Well played. They got to you. It is...regrettable, but we will show you the proper path." Menacing looking machinery started unfolding form the ceiling. Saws whirred, needles glistened and hoses hissed as Diana met the kinslayer's gaze calmly.

"No?" Diana asked. "Then why do you serve the Sentient?" Stalker stared at her and she snarled. "I know what you did. What you _tried_ to do. You are no better than any of the Orokin criminals I was set after. They didn't _care_. Neither do you. All you do is prolong the agony, hurt people who are trying to make a difference and for what? Your own self aggrandizement." Stalker shook his head but Diana wasn't done. "Yeah, sure. You came after me for an _Infested_. A mass of feral Technocyte that was on a rampage. But I helped stop it so you have to show who is boss. You are no _better_ than any of my targets. In your own way you are just as _blind_. _Willfully so_." The bite in her words skittered around the room as if on clawtips. "You want what you want and to hell with everyone else. Everyone is guilty because you _say so_. Guess what? Not everyone agrees with you."

"In a few moments, you will." Stalker sounded almost gentle now. "You will embrace your darkness, join our crusade to see justice done."

"You have no idea what you are doing." Diana said as the machinery lowered itself around her. "Lesser Guardian, right?" Stalker recoiled a little and Diana chuckled, her tone almost a match for his. "The clan told me a bit about you when I asked. Iriana will _die_ before she lets you take her. And me? I just ran out of time."

She felt the oddity bloom inside herself. It wasn't cold. It wasn't hot. It was both of those and neither. She had forgotten what it felt like. It had been a long, long time since her training. Since the failsafe had been put in and tested. The feeling spread through her, seeping through every pore, every fiber of her being. She felt pressure across her skull now, but it was distant. She heard Stalker curse, but her time had come.

She... was done.

 _You have earned your rest, Sister._ The voice of the Excalibur was kind deep inside her mind as she slipped further and further towards oblivion. _No one will say otherwise._

 _So many things I wanted to do..._ Diana said weakly as comforting light swept around her. She was slipping, falling. But she wasn't afraid. Not now. _Tenno serve. We do... not..._

"NO!" Stalker's scream pulled Diana back from the brink, darkness crowding around her as the light tried to pull her in. They were matched equally. Darkness and Light. Yin and Yang. Death and Life. A perfect balance so beautiful that Diana wept to see it.

 _Let go of her!_ The Excalibur said firmly. _You play with powers you cannot comprehend. Even your puppetmaster cannot understand what the repercussions would be. Let her go!_

"NEVER!" Stalker screamed as energy flared around Diana. She groaned as pain flared through her. It seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere, far beyond her ability to deflect or ignore. "She is _mine_!"

Something went snap and suddenly, everything changed. Diana stood apart from the strange tableau. Stalker was bent over the table on which... her body lay. It was coated with foul looking black things that seemed to writhe in agitation as her head slumped to the side, lifeless. The two not quite warframes stood where they had appeared, the Acolytes standing between the not-quite-an-Excalibur and the not-quite-a-Rhino the table.

"What... the...?" No one seemed to take notice as Diana staggered, staring at her own face. There was no life in that face. Pain flared through her as energy played over the still form on the table and she groaned.

"Easy, sister." Somehow, the Rhino had moved to stand beside her without her noticing or anyone else reacting. He offered his hand and she took it. She stopped and stared at her hand. It was armored. "It is going to hurt, but he won't succeed." Stalker was doing something. The body on the table jerked and pain flared anew in Diana. She fought her way past it.

"If we let him, he will use my body." Diana said weakly. The Rhino nodded, his posture grim. "I... I have to stop him."

"You have done enough. Suffered enough." The Rhino pulled her into an awkward embrace. He held her for a moment and then released her. "Diana, we can stop him, but only... after." He looked away from her.

"After I die completely." Diana's words were flat and the Rhino nodded. "Why?"

"Because anything we do will kill you." The Rhino said quietly. "And that is forbidden to us." Diana looked at him and then at the still form on the table.

"Forbidden by _who_?" Diana asked. "Nikis didn't know who you were." The Rhino did not answer her and pain lanced through Diana again as Stalker worked feverishly to bring her body back to life. She crumpled for just a moment and the Rhino held her upright. After a moment, she spoke again. "I cannot allow this to happen. I cannot allow him to use my body."

"Sister..." The Rhino said slowly. "You have earned your rest if anyone has."

"I am Tenno." Diana shook his hands off and nodded to him. "Thank you, brother. But I know what I must do." She turned to where the golden Nikana lay abandoned on a side table. Two strides brought her to the table. No one but the Rhino seemed to notice. She was not surprised when her hand grasped it. Stalker spun with a vile oath.

"What?" The kinslayer snapped as bright white energy flared around the blade. The ancient piece of deadly art wavered for a moment and then it was in her hand, a piece of her flowing into and through the ancient steel as it became both more and less than steel. She smiled as the blade became part of her, it felt as natural as a fingers."No!" The Acolytes reoriented, two facing Diana.

"Too late." Diana said as the energy surrounded her. The form on the table wavered and vanished. "Here I stand." She said into the sudden silence. "I can do no other. I am Tenno." The blade slid from its saya with a flourish. She spun it, the wicked edge describing a golden arc. Then it was back in its saya and she held the blade ready in front of her as the Excalibur and Rhino moved to flank her.

"You are not dead." Stalker said slowly. Diana ignored him, focusing on the Acolytes. "You _will_ be mine!" He declared as his two handed sword slid into his hands.

"No." Diana replied evenly. "I won't."

Without any further ado, she charged.

* * *

The Excalibur and Rhino were matching Diana as she darted towards the closest Acolyte. The mismatched form drew a rapier like weapon and a claw sprouted from its other hand. Ordinarily, a rapier was a superior weapon when used in hand to hand combat, because it required far less time and energy to do damage. A Nikana had more reach, but the rapier was far faster. Add to that, a point was far more versatile than a long edge much of the time. But Diana had been trained by the very best. Before the rapier wielder could set himself, she had flowed _around_ his guard. The Nikana sliced as if with its own will and the rapier wielder screamed as the hand holding the sword fell off. The natural follow through bit deep into the odd red and black armor and the being fell to lie still. Diana wasn't fooled, he was just biding his time until he healed. Another cut, this one to the head and he wouldn't be rising for quite some time.

Some instinct warned her and she threw herself to the side as a torrent of energy passed through where she had just been. The Rhino charged one of the Acolytes who held a large cannon easily. Another with two pistols moved to intercept and the Rhino engaged both at the same time, his Orthos Prime flashing. The Excalibur was facing off against one that had grown claws. They seemed equally matched. Another red and black form with a Lacera was angling to attack him from the side and Diana moved to block.

"Misery! Hold her!" Stalker announced as he waded into the fight.

He ignored Diana. For a moment, she couldn't understand that, then she felt a pull. She spun to the side and another Acolyte, this one holding an Ether Reaper scythe, had his hand up. She instinctively recoiled from whatever he was doing, but... she couldn't move! The machinery was doing something at her body. A glance had Diana shivering. Her body was being encased by red and black armor. She was being turned into an Acolyte!

"Just relax, dear Affliction." The voice of the Acolyte was _wrong_. "You are confused. We will help you to see the Way."

"My name is _Diana_ and I _know_ my way." Diana fought whatever was holding her, but it resisted her efforts. Whatever it was, the harder she fought, the tighter the bonds got. She relaxed for a moment and the bindings curled even closer. So they were not just reacting to her struggles. No way out _that_ way. A few Orokin bindings had been set up to relax completely if one stopped struggling. Not so great at holding people, but not damaging. "You are blinded by your darkness. I am not."

"You are confused." The other replied. "You will join us. You will see the truth." It was hard to say what was scarier, the matter of fact tone or the almost lust for pain that washed just underneath the calm.

"The truth of _death_?" Diana snapped. "I know _that_ truth." She fought harder even as two of the red and black forms fell almost as one. The remaining three, Stalker and the other two, fought on as the two not quite warframes seemed to dance through their ranks. "You have nothing to teach me about _that_."

"You are wrong, Affliction." Diana jerked as the pain that she had been feeling vanished as if it had never been. Something pulled her towards the table. "You have been betrayed. You need a rock to cling to. The Shadow will provide the rock. Come along." The pull increased, but Diana managed to stand her ground.

"I will not serve you." Diana said firmly. "Not now, not _ever!_ "

"Who said you had a choice?" The other asked as the pull suddenly became a yank. "Come, Affliction. You only prolong the inevitable." Diana bit back a scream as a different pain blossomed in her...whatever she was now. "You will join us."

"Never!" Diana bit out, her sword before her for all the good it would do against something that wasn't tangible.

"You need to see what we are capable of." The one called Misery said calmly, his hand still outstretched. "What you are truly capable of, Affliction." His other hand came up, his Ether Reaper slung. Shadows seemed to lengthen all around the room.

Diana quailed as the fallen Acolytes rose. Shadowy wisps of power flashed around them, flowing out of rents in the armor. The one whose hand she had cut off had an insubstantial looking appendage in its place, but it seemed durable enough as it gripped his rapier. They fell on the pair of warframes that had come to her aid and Diana could only watch as the two were beaten back by their five opponents. The Rhino and Excalibur were _very_ good, no question. Then she felt tugs at her feet. She looked down to see things sweeping around her. They looked sort of like Infested Crawlers, but were insubstantial. But not totally. They were moving around her feet, underneath her feet and she was moving slowly towards the table. She struggled harder, but there wasn't anything she could do.

"Watch out for that tar baby, Brer Rabbit!" The Excalibur called. No one commented as Diana froze. It _couldn't_ be!

Her boss, Graj, had always enjoyed ancient literature. Anything and everything he could find to read, he did. One of his favorites had always been folklore. Folk tales from many cultures had helped to pass the time in between missions. Even with all of the wonders of Orokin technology, space was vast and it took time to travel. So she knew the reference. She had to make this look good. Diana swallowed hard and then started to scream.

"NO!" Diana shouted even as the fight continued. Was it her imagination or were her two allies pulling the others away from the table and her? "I...! I won't...!" She didn't have to feign tears. They were tears of _rage_ , not pain or fear. Still, she _was_ crying.

"It won't hurt, my dear." The one called Misery said calmly as Diana was dragged towards the table. In moments, she was right beside it. "Touch your form, dear Affliction. Be reborn."

" _ **No!**_ " Diana didn't have to fake the scream that came. She screamed loud and long as the pain redoubled. She jerked as golden hands touched hers. She stared up and gasped. Gillie's face was blank as her hands pulled Diana's down towards the red and black armor. The Executor was... smiling?

 _Gillie?_ Diana kept her mind voice small.

 _I have been such a fool._ Gillie said softly. _Ballis always said I was too quick to judge and I was. Diana, I am sorry._

 _You don't owe_ **me** _an apology! You have hurt so many. Caused so much pain and fear._ Diana retorted even as her hands were pulled millimeter by millimeter towards her new body. Her doom. _Given these a weapon that cannot be stopped._

 _Oh yes, it can._ Gillie replied. _I forgot what it was to be human in my need to be Orokin. Graj didn't. He was...the best of us. Him and Ballis._

 _And he_ **died** _!_ Diana couldn't restrain the anguish that flowed from her as memory came again. Seeing his broken form, watching as Infested savaged it to try and subsume it. Watching as it and everything she had known melted under her power. She hadn't loved him. Indeed, she had often hated his guts for various things, but he had been her supervisor. Her rock in an unstable universe and she had known he was doing his best. Then he was gone.

 _Yes, he did._ Gillie agreed. _But your boss was_ **nothing** _if not a planner. No one could have planned for all of this, but he did plan on one of us going rogue. It was only a matter of time. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Even the most jaded of the Emperors would have hesitated to call a purge. So, Graj planned. You will only have one shot before they try to take control again. Don't miss._

 _What are you-...?_ Whatever else Diana was going to say was cut off as she was dragged into the form on the table.

It didn't hurt but it was very strange. Her body felt light. Every sense was aware even as a command arced itself across her brain.

 _ **KILL.**_

Then the word faded. Indeed, every compulsion faded. Diana relaxed as whatever was holding her to the table retracted and her body sat up. The one called Misery nodded to her, drew his scythe and dove into the combat that was still raging. The Excalibur was firmly on the defensive, but his Exalted Blade was blocking attacks and his form was perfect as he counterattacked. The Rhino was battered but still holding his own and...

Everything suddenly stopped as Diana drew her sword out of Gillie's body. The Executor's body flared and the darkness that had been surrounding it vanished as if it had never been.

"By your actions, I know you." Diana intoned in ancient Orokin. "By your deeds, I have judged you. By my blade I have sentenced you. Oblivion for rebellion against Orokin and crimes against humanity."

"I..." Gillie stared down at the small hole in her torso. It wasn't bleeding. Golden energy seeped down her front as she nodded. "I submit to Orokin justice, Rectifier." She knelt, bowing her head. Diana raised her sword.

" _ **How**_?" Stalker demanded from where he stood.

"'Please don't throw me into that _briar patch_ , Brer Fox.'" The Excalibur mocked Stalker. "Isn't reverse psychology **_fun_**?"

Stalker and his minions were in motion, but too late. Diana's sword fell.

* * *

 **'Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby' is a folk tale from the Southern US commonly available from a collection called 'The Tales of Uncle Remus'. **

**More information can be found online under 'Brer Rabbit'. It will be explained in more detail in the next chapter.  
**


	19. Chapter 19

**Many ways to win**

Diana had to smile at the sputtering sound that came from Stalker. He obviously didn't have a clue what had happened or what was _about_ to happen. Her Nikana went back to her side as Gillie's body fell, her head rolling a meter away before coming to a rest, face down. The kinslayer and his minions seemed totally shocked. None of them even tried to control her even as both of the phantoms vanished and reappeared beside her. She nodded to the Excalibur who nodded back. She hadn't been sure about the plan, but it had worked. If Stalker or his minions _had_ realized that Diana had _wanted_ them to encase her in the horror so she could get a free shot at Gillie, they would have reacted otherwise. Then again, that particular story was more than a bit obscure.

'Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby' was a folk tale from the North American continent, Pre-Orokin. Someone called 'Uncle Remus' had written down a number of folk tales and preserved them in both written and digital formats so that they survived the many upheavals that heralded Orokin's rise. The gist was that a trickster character, Brer Rabbit, was always tricking another character, Brer Fox. Brer Fox got fed up with that and laid a trap for the trickster. Diana wasn't entirely sure what tar was or had been, but the idea was sound. Make a figure -the Tar Baby- out of something incredibly sticky and put it in the trickster's path. Brer Rabbit had been incensed that the figure wouldn't talk to him, so eventually he took tried to hit the impolite person to get his attention and found himself stuck. The more he fought, the more stuck he became. By the time Brer Fox had come out of hiding to gloat, Brer Rabbit had been completely stuck. But the trickster wasn't done. In the course of the conversation, the rabbit begged the fox several times not to throw him in a nearby briar patch. Again, Diana wasn't sure what a briar patch had been. Some kind of plant obviously from the context. Long story short, fox threw rabbit into the briar patch and rabbit used the said briar patch to get free of the tar.

It was known as 'reverse psychology'. It was a technique involving the advocacy of a belief or behavior that is opposite to the one desired, with the expectation that this approach will encourage the subject of the persuasion to do what actually _is_ desired. Diana's boss, Executor Graj, had loved that kind of thing. _Many_ of his opponents had wandered away wondering exactly _how_ they had wound up doing precisely what he wanted when _they_ hadn't wanted to. _Sneaky_ might have been his middle name.

The others touched her shoulders and Diana felt whatever was holding her in the armor release her. Diana nodded to the Excalibur again as she stepped out of the organic body she had been trapped in. The red and black armor fell over with a crash. The sword in her hand remained, it's light pure and white still.

"You lose." Diana said flatly to the other red and black forms. "And you might want to run now before the destruct in Gillie's body goes off."

"You are mine, Affliction!" Stalker raised his sword, his minions raised their weapons.

"No, she is not." The Excalibur sounded amused by Stalker's ire. "I would leave before she gets any more upset." Diana smiled, but her focus was on the kinslayer.

"My name is Diana, not Affliction." The female Tenno took a deep breath and her sword was ready to parry. "Can we leave, brother?" She asked the Excalibur. "I am sick of this place."

" _And_ it is about to be radioactive rubble." The Excalibur reached down and took her free hand. "We can go soon, sister. We have much to discuss."

"You are going _nowhere_!" Stalker raised his hands and red energy flared all around them. It did nothing to Diana, and the others did not seem affected either. His minions all aimed. Neither of her cohorts moved and Diana shook her head.

"He cannot hold us." Diana asked mildly. "Can he?"

"He can try." The Excalibur replied. "It might work for a while, it might not. The thing he _cannot_ do is stop the reaction in Gilliananhorisa's body. I doubt he can even detect it." Stalker seemed to freeze. "What?" The Excalibur was snide now. "You think an _Executor_ of all people will die _easily_? Or not have _some_ kind of vengeance for her death?"

"Graj didn't destruct." Diana said in sudden memory. The Excalibur nodded. "Then... what did...he...?" She froze as the Excalibur nodded again. "What do you know?" She wasn't sure she wanted the answer.

"Graj was a planner." The other said kindly. "I don't know where he got my energy or if he told anyone about it. I don't know what he was originally planning to do with my energy. I _do_ know that when I woke, he had left a recording asking me to do what he could not. Protect Orokin. So I have."

"Affliction! Come! You _will_ serve _me_." Stalker seemed to be nearly frothing at the mouth now.

"Can we _go_?" Diana was suddenly tired. "I am _sick_ of this place." She turned to see the red and black form at her feet waver and vanish.

" _Now_ we can." The Excalibur took one hand and the Rhino took the other. "Your body and weapon have been recovered. You are totally free."

"You are going nowhere! You will-" Stalker choked off as Gillie's body started to glow. All of his minions took a step back and their postures were worried.

"I would _run_." The Rhino said with a laugh. "Having your energy destroyed hurts like _hell_."

"Goodbye, kinslayer." Diana said as reality warped around her. "We will likely meet again. But my name is _Diana_."

They were suddenly elsewhere. It wasn't a portal transit or any other form of transportation Diana had ever encountered. They were just somewhere else. The room was large and open and...

 _They were not alone!_

Diana went totally still as several warframes raised weapons. _Familiar_ warframes. Tiana, Alicia, Will, Aeron, Karen, Janna, Ric, Rica, Olim, Mori, Cathi Gata, Quais... She knew them all. But it was the black Nekros that had her freezing in place. He had no weapons in hand, but his hands were glowing with eldritch energy. She released her sword hilt and stepped forward, nodding to the Nekros.

"The Elders?" She asked as if no weapons were aimed at her. Nikis did not reply for a moment and she bowed her head. "Guardian of the Dead, I... Have I transgressed?"

"Not with me." Nikis said after a time that seemed to stretch forever. The glow around his hands faded a little, but not all the way. "And the Elders are fine." He snorted in sour amusement. "Well, as fine as group of politicos can _be_."

"Yeah." Diana turned her head slowly to look at the Excalibur and Rhino. Neither had moved. Neither spoke and she turned back to Nikis. "How did you find me?"

"I know your energy pattern and I had help." Nikis replied. Diana's eyes narrowed. That didn't make any sense. She opened her mouth to query and paused as a half seen form at the back of the pack of Tenno nodded to her. The Oracle she had met before smiled and vanished. Diana wanted to pinch herself. Nikis nodded to her. "You won't go into the database." A statement of fact.

"I can't, Nikis. To many secrets that must die with me." Diana shrugged. "Gillie is dead. There was no way for them to stop the destruct so her body is gone too. Shaun?"

"Uh, yeah... about him..." Was Nikis _embarrassed_?

"You _idiot_ girl." Diana went still as the shade of her grandfather's warframe appeared nearby. Jon Whitehorse was _not_ happy. "What have you done to yourself _now_?"

"It wasn't me, Grandfather." Diana shuffled her feet like an errant schoolgirl as the ancient shaman glared at her. "I didn't think-" He cut her off.

"No, you _didn't_ think! Just going to fade out now?" Jon Whitehorse snapped. "Do you have _any_ idea what your grandmother will do to me? _Any?_ " The Atlas warframe seemed to shudder. "We lost Frank, we are _not_ going to lose _you_ too!" Was it her imagination that the Excalibur at her side jerked a little? Had to be.

"Grandfather, what must be, must be." Diana felt as if she were tiny before the shaman's wrath even when it wasn't entirely directed at her. "I accepted my fate along with my duty. It had to be done, I did it. I don't like it, but in the end, 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one', Grandfather." She pleaded. "The human race needed me. I had to serve. It had to be done." She repeated.

"I..." The Atlas seemed to wilt. "Damn." He bowed his head and his voice turned rueful. "Trent always _was_ good at teaching responsibility. But Diana..." He begged. "You are not _gone_! They can repair your body, _without_ the failsafe!"

"Stalker wants me as one of his scum." Diana said sadly. More than one of the surrounding Tenno hissed at that.

"Well, _Stalker_ can kiss my _ass_." Her grandfather's rage was a match for Nikis'. "You are spoken for, girl and _don't_ you forget it."

"Or you will send _grandma_ to kick me in the butt until I _do_ remember." Diana grinned as Jon snorted and Nikis chuckled. More than one of the surrounding Tenno chuckled softly as well.

"Only if you deserve it." Jon Whitehorse heaved a deep sigh and stepped forward, his hand outstretched. "Diana. Please?"

"I cannot go back, Grandfather!" Diana didn't move.

"There are other options." Jon retorted. "Aren't there, Sparrow?" Diana stiffened as the Excalibur at her side seemed to wilt. "It wasn't your fault, boy." Neither of the odd warframes beside Diana moved and Jon sighed. "We have pieced together some of it. You don't know, do you?"

Neither the Excalibur nor the Rhino moved. Neither had drawn weapons at least, but neither of them seemed ready to speak.

"'Sparrow'?" Diana queried.

"Sparrow was one of the Zarimon children that various groups experimented on." Jon sounded sick and Diana could relate. Just the memories hurt, but she had met Falcon too. She liked the girl but the insanely powerful Tenno child gave her the creeps. "And yes, the Executors were one such group." Diana slumped a bit and Jon nodded. "One day, he didn't wake up. But he was still alive and his power didn't fade when his mind did. They used him as a battery to power various things. Including the energy destroying weapons."

"But those weapons predate the Zarimon accident." Diana protested, looking at her companions. Neither moved.

"That they do." A new voice sounded and everyone went still as a holo appeared in the middle of the tableau. A female human in a golden gown. _Not_ Michelle. The crown on her head started to glow softly and Diana felt as if her world was falling to pieces around her. "My ancestors were nothing if not vicious in dealing with each other at times."

"Empress..." Diana said weakly and then bowed her head. "I... I failed."

"Stuff a sock in it, Rectifier." The reply was so deadpan that for a moment, there was _utter_ silence in the hall. Then Nikis burst out laughing as Diana stared wide eyed at the Empress. The tension in the room did not vanish, but it did lessen, especially when Nikis' hands stopped glowing. "This is a mess, but none of it is your fault, Diana. Nor yours, Sparrow. Nor yours..." She paused and her face was so sad now. "Karl."

"I do not know that name." The voice from the Rhino was tiny. "I do not know any of you." Diana was hardly the only one to stiffen at the pain in his voice. "Is that my name? I do not remember." All eyes turned to Nikis who heaved a sigh.

"You don't remember me, numbnuts?" The Nekros asked quietly. The Rhino shook his head and Nikis cursed softly. "There were no cases of survival from such a weapon. Ever. What did you do, Sparrow?"

"I don't know." Sparrow said quietly, but his stance was protective. Of Karl? Of Diana? Hard to say. "I heard him scream, felt his agony and pulled him in. It was all I could do. I couldn't save all of him."

"No." Nikis sounded sad for a moment. Then his voice firmed. "No, you wouldn't be able to save all of him. I doubt _I_ would have been able to, caught flat footed like that. Those things are _nasty_."

"Without Gillie, even if Stalker _can_ find any more of them, he won't be able to _use_ them without the proper codes. Trying will fuse them and anyone dumb enough to stand near them will not enjoy the experience." Diana offered. The Empress nodded to her with a smile. That smiled faltered as Diana bowed her head again. "I killed Gilliananhorisa. I..."

"Rectifier Diana." The Empress sounded kind now. "What else could you have _done_?" She asked reasonably. "She was dead the moment Stalker took control of her. One way or another, she was dead. Either he tripped one of her implanted traps or he used her up in some sick experiment. Knowing what I know of your methods, it was likely quicker and far less painful than she deserved."

"I do not feel that it was properly done, Empress." Diana said softly. "There was no trial. No determination of her guilt. Yes, she did bad things. But so have I."

"Your reticence does you credit, Rectifier." The Empress said after a moment. "What you do-" She paused. "No. What you _did_." She corrected herself. "What you did required a great deal of freedom, but it _also_ required a great deal of control." Diana nodded, head still bowed. "What is it you wish, Rectifier Diana?"

"Me?" Diana's head jerked up to see the Empress watching her. "My wishes do not matter." She was not expecting the Empress to laugh. "Ma'am?" She asked tightly.

"Rectifier Diana..." The Empress said quietly. "Even if I was stupid enough to try and force you into doing something you do not want to do, I am _not_ stupid enough to do it with a clan who _all_ came to try and free you from spiritual bondage watching me like hawks." Diana froze as Tiana stepped forward from the group who had slung their weapons now.

"What do you want, Diana?" The Nyx Prime warframe stood calmly, but something about her said she was tense.

"You came... for me?" Diana asked. "I..."

"For you and to find out what happened to Karl." Tiana bowed to the Rhino who seemed not to be able to speak. "Even if you do not remember us, we remember _you_. There were no limitations on the words we spoke. Sister to Brother, yours in Life _and_ Death." The Rhino stared from Tiana to Sparrow who shrugged. Tiana nodded. "That goes for you too, Sparrow."

"But... We are dead." Sparrow said weakly. "Diana has a body to go back to. I can't go back to mine and I don't think my brother here can either."

"Well, I am dead too." Jon said with a snort. "See it stopping me?" Nikis made a sour noise and the shaman shook his head. "You hush or I will get Margaret in here." Nikis cowered away from the shade comically and everyone chuckled. "There are alternatives, Sparrow. You do not have to be alone."

"I..." The Excalibur beside Diana seemed to crumple a bit on itself. Now, he sounded far younger. "I don't know."

"You have time to make a decision." Jon looked at Nikis who waved for him to continue. "Diana does not."

"What?" Diana heard an equally confused chorus from both the Rhino and the Excalibur.

"You are right." Nikis said softly when Jon turned to him. "Your energy altered enough that neither of you can go back into the bodies you were in. Sparrow, you were altered by what the sick fucks did to you. Karl was altered by what killed him. Diana hasn't altered beyond repair. Yet."

"Stalker changed my body!" Diana protested. "Encased it in that horrific armor. Wanted me to be one of his Acolytes."

"And Iriana has your body now." Nikis replied evenly. "You really think she is just going to let you fade without a fight?" Diana stared at him and then she had to snort at the sheer absurdity of that thought. Iriana wouldn't quit. Not a chance. Nikis nodded to her. "You have the choice, Diana. The Elders won't get in her way again."

"What did she do?" Diana wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Iriana? Not much." The Empress smiled, but it was more feral than friendly. "She told the Elders flat out that if they _kept_ interfering with her trying to heal people, she _would_ pack up and go live with the Caretakers and _they_ could go screw themselves." Diana felt her eyes go huge and the Empress nodded. "They fell all over themselves to keep her around. Can't really blame them. She is one of the best."

"That she is." Diana agreed. "Empress..."

"I cannot command you in this." The Empress said quietly. "First, you were never really under my authority. Second, your clan might object." Her smile was wide but then it faded. "Third? It would be _wrong_. You have earned whatever reward you seek, Tenno. Many times over."

Diana turned to Sparrow who shrugged. Karl did not move and the Excalibur spoke.

"We just wanted to make sure you wouldn't wind up one of his _pets_." Sparrow said firmly. "What you do now is your choice."

"What will happen to you?" Diana asked, fear blossoming. Nikis brooked no trespass when it came to the balance between the living and the dead.

"I don't know. I would think-" Sparrow started, but broke off as Nikis coughed. "Grandmaster?"

"We got a few ideas along those lines..."


	20. Chapter 20

**Gain and Loss**

Diana opened her eyes and smiled. She felt different even as she turned her head slightly and saw Iriana looking at her from a chair beside the bed. The glow from the Healer's eyes was subdued. Was she worried?

"What's up, doc?" Diana asked. Iriana stared at her and Diana smiled wider. Trying to explain the ancient character of Bugs Bunny would take far too long, so Diana simply kept her smile as Iriana goggled at her. "Sorry. Ancient joke."

"You are going to fit in just fine around here." Iriana complained whimsically as she reached out to take Diana's hand. "You are just as nuts as the rest of us."

"Guilty as charged." Diana agreed. "They... wouldn't tell me all of what happened. Do you know what happened to Shaun?"

"His failsafe activated." Iriana looked away. "I hated him. I really did for what he did to me and Janna." Diana did not know what to say. So she just held the Healer's hand as Iriana swallowed hard. "I know it wasn't his fault. He was just following orders."

"That is a crappy excuse and you know it." Diana snapped. Iriana jerked but Diana did not let go of her hand. "Yes, people like me and him were given orders, but we were not robots. We were expected to think things through. Stalker used Gillie to try and get you. I can only imagine what would have happened to you if the brainwashing had succeeded." Diana shuddered and now, Iriana squeezed her hand. "I am glad it didn't. Even with all of the pain... I am glad it didn't."

"Me too." Iriana heaved a sigh and then smiled. "Janna is waiting very patiently. How do you feel?"

"Good." Diana checked each of her extremities, wiggling her fingers and toes to check the responses. "Did you get all of the residue of the armor off?" Iriana nodded and Diana relaxed. "Good. That was nasty."

"Yes, it was." Iriana shivered in memory. "it wasn't -quite- a warframe, but in many ways it was similar. It was intended for remote control."

"Yeah." Diana gave herself a shake. "Can I get up? I bet the clan has a few thousand questions for me."

"At least." Iriana released Diana's hand and sat back as Diana sat up. She smiled as Diana eased herself into an upright position. "Just take it easy for a bit and if you feel anything off, let me know."

"Wait..." There wasn't anything wrong. It just felt odd. "Is this a new body?" Diana asked. Iriana nodded and the former assassin made a face. "Iriana..."

"I am not going to start wholesale cloning or something equally stupid." Iriana retorted as Diana eased her feet to the floor. "But there are some problems for which even our medicine has no solutions. Your body was corrupted beyond recovery." Diana grimaced again and Iriana took her hand. "And we couldn't be sure we got the failsafe out."

"Iriana." Diana warned flatly.

"Diana, listen." The Healer squeezed the assassin's hand. "You may think you are just another Tenno, but _none_ of us are indispensible. What you were is not important now. What matters now is what you are and what you want to be."

"Iriana." Diana rose to her feet and the Healer followed suit. "With all due respect, you do not know what you are doing!" Iriana just looked at her. "I am dangerous! I need the restraint!"

"Do you?" Iriana asked softly. Diana stared at her and the Healer smiled a little sadly. "Or do you honor the Code?"

"Iriana, you cannot let someone like me run around _loose_." Diana retorted, fear and anger vying for prominence.

"Who said anything about 'loose'?" The Healer asked. Diana stiffened and Iriana smiled. "Diana, relax. The clan had this discussion. Several of them actually when you went to face the Elders. You are one of us now, Diana. We are responsible for tending you just as we are responsible for keeping Aeron from flipping out, helping Ric remember who and what he is, keeping Olim and Quais from working themselves to death. Trying to pry Cathi Gata away from the ancient movies that Ric insists on showing her. Helping Brianna, Karen and Miguel deal with the horrors of their past in ways that keep them sane."She looked away. "Making sure I don't mope."

"Iriana..." Diana felt her throat tighten.

"We need you, Diana." The Healer said softly, staring off into space. "Not for what you were, but for who you _are_. The grounded and sane being who has no reason to be either of those. Whose strength and skill are inspirations to all of us. We need you." She repeated. " _I_ need you. Please."

"I was a servant of the Executors for so long, Iriana..." The former assassin's voice was hushed. "I don't know if I can _be_ anything else."

"Janna is waiting." Iriana's tone was mild. She gave Diana's hand another squeeze. "What you do now is _your_ choice. No one else's." She let go of Diana's hand and stepped towards the door. "But you might want to put on more than a patient gown." She indicated a shelf nearby that held a folded bodysuit and boots. "We will await your decision."

She left the room, left Diana standing there stunned out of speech.

* * *

"Pushy healers..." Diana was grumbling as she finished pulling on the boots and started for the door. "Always know every button."

Diana wanted an end. She likely always would. But now? She had other priorities. She had sworn to tutor Janna. That oath was not something that she could abandon. She walked to the door that Iriana had used and paused as it opened. Outside, Janna knelt in seiza by one wall of the corridor. From her posture, she had been kneeling there for quite some time.

"Janna." Diana said calmly as the youngest Tenno looked at her. "How do you fare?"

"I do not know." The kneeling Tenno replied honestly. "I am... So many emotions. I can't feel Iriana to help control them anymore."

"That link was hurting both of you." Diana felt her heart lighten as Janna bowed from the neck in acknowledgement. An old saying went 'Knowing was half the battle' and knowing oneself was a prerequisite for any Tenno who wanted to be considered mature by his or her peers. "You will learn now. Or Grandpa will come out and kick me until you do. So _please_ learn." She put just the right note of wheedling into her voice and Janna laughed.

"I like your Grandpa." Janna said after a moment. "But he makes me nervous."

"How do you think _I_ feel?" Diana asked sourly. "Try growing up with him. When he was alive, 'contrary' was his middle name. Now? He can play the ghost."

"Boo!" Diana did not jump as Jon Whitehorse simply appeared nearby. His posture was resigned as she looked at her. "Drat. Always used to get you with that."

"When I was _ten_." Diana retorted without heat.

"You staying?" Jon asked. Diana nodded. "Good. Then your grandma will stop pestering me. But she will be by every so often to check on you." Diana groaned and the spectral Tenno laughed. "Don't start girl. I know you like her visits."

"Like? Yes." Diana admitted. "Want her popping in when I shower? No. And if I catch you peeping, I _am_ going to call Nikis."

"Nikis would just laugh and ask if we had refreshments." Janna said in a tiny voice. The others looked at her and she shrugged. "It's true."

"Nikis takes his duties very seriously." Jon said after a moment. "Maybe too seriously. But I am not dumb enough to push him in any way. Margaret can push him further but that is because she scared him when she was alive." Both Janna and Diana were staring at Jon now who shrugged. "'Tis true. She scared _everyone._ She and Nikis went out a few times, but he was always focused on his work and _she_ wanted kids." Jon shook his head. "Not complaining."

"Much." Diana quipped and Jon laughed and then his voice turned serious.

"They need you, Diana." Jon sounded older, wiser and sadder for a moment. "Janna needs you, yes. But they do too. Too many secrets that must not come out. They need you."

"Sparrow and Karl?" Diana asked after a moment's thought.

"Come." Jon had a smile in his voice now. The shade started off and Diana followed, Janna rising awkwardly to her feet to tag along. The Atlas shade did not slow even as they entered a larger room that was filled with medical equipment.

"Come on, Sparrow." Iriana sounded mildly exasperated. "Just try."

"This feels wrong." A familiar voice sounded as an odd looking almost Excalibur warframe walked from near one wall into the middle of the room ."So very wrong. Are you sure this body was not going to develop further?"

 **Who** _is the medic here, Sparrow?_ An inaudible but exasperated voice sounded and Iriana bit back a laugh.

"Don't tick Falcon off, Sparrow. She comes by her temper honestly." Iriana turned to see the trio standing by the door. "Hi guys. Sparrow is giving his warframe a spin."

"A warframe." Diana mused. Iriana, Jon and Janna all nodded. "With a cloned body inside that was set not to develop a mind."

"No slavery here." Iriana promised. "We worked hard to keep it that way. So now, Sparrow and Karl can interact with us."

"For all the good this will do." Sparrow snapped as the warframe stumbled. "Geez, I cannot get this to walk right."

 _Stop fighting it, Sparrow._ The voice of the invisible Tenno was calm, but still held the tinge of exasperation. _Just let it happen._

"Easy for _you_ to say!" Sparrow snapped.

"Calm down, Sparrow." Diana said mildly. Everything stopped as the warframe turned to look at her. "You are not facing this alone now. We will help you, brother. Just as you helped me. That is what clan are for, no?" The warframe seemed to slump but then nodded. "Where is Karl?"

"Trying to keep Jimmy form deactivating himself." Iriana wasn't calm. Not in the slightest. "He blames himself for what happened to you."

"Aw geez..." Diana slumped a bit. "Where?"

"Room three." Iriana held up a hand as Janna started to follow Diana as she stalked off. "Better wait here, Janna." Janna stared from the Healer to Dian and back. Then she sank to the floor in seiza.

Diana did not bother to ask for admittance. She opened the door and entered the room. Before either of the beings in it could speak, she let them both have it. In her work as a Rectifier, she had spent a great deal of time in nasty places. She had learned a lot in said nasty places. Both of the occupants of the room stared as Diana swore loudly at them both. She used the common tongue. She used Old Orokin. She used Grineer and Corpus that she had learned since she had woken. She used three different ancient and obscure languages. One called French, one called Chinese and one called English. Finally, after about five minutes of almost nonstop cursing, she wound down.

"Are you... done?" The not-quite-a-Rhino warframe seemed apprehensive.

"No." Diana strode to where the cyborg sat on its treads. "Not your fault. It was Nicholas. Not you. Don't let him win." She threw her arms around the cyborg and hugged it tight. " _Don't_ let him win. I will not press charges. The one responsible is _dead_." She hugged Jimmy again and retreated to the door. "If you do anything dumb, I may have to get my grandma in here to talk to you."

As she left, she heard the cyborg speak. It sounded dazed. "Is her Grandma...worse?"

Diana was smirking as the door sealed behind her. Utter silence greeted her as a warframe, three healers, a shade and _two_ Tenno now all stared at her as she strode to where Janna knelt. Apparently, Alicia and Tiana had come in while Diana was occupied. All seemed stunned.

"What?" Diana asked.

"They left a _lot_ of bark on you when they put on the final finishing touches, Granddaughter." Jon's tone was one of forced mildness. She made an obscene gesture at him and he laughed. "Nice to see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. _I_ don't know what some of those words meant." Diana made a face at him and he laughed again.

"Probably for the best." Iriana had paled but she shook her head as Diana looked at her. "He is talking to Karl now. He wasn't before."

"I need to know something, Sparrow." Diana said slowly. The warframe nodded to her. "It wasn't just your energy that Graj used, was it?"

"No." Sparrow's voice was soft now. "I don't know how many... fragments he used to make this energy viable. I do know your brother's energy was part of it." Jon and Diana both nodded. "You know?"

"I suspected." Diana shrugged. "Graj was nothing if not a planner. He never let anything go to waste. Not even the energy of a Tenno who was slain in the trail to become his servant." She looked away. "He made me do it My first kill was my brother."

"Oh, Diana..." Jon sounded horrified.

Iriana and Janna both rose wand walked to where Diana stood. Both embraced her.

"Let the past stay in the past." Janna said softly as she hugged her sponsor again and Diana finally let the tears come that had been denied for so long. Iriana retreated a step and let the two bond.

"Now, we can face the future." Janna said softly as she held Diana.

"Sister."

* * *

A hidden place, far across the system

"You are incorrigible, you know that." Nikis was halfway between amused and angry. He stood in a small room with another.

"He is an asset, Nikis." Sun sounded calm, but then again, he almost always did. "I did what I did because I thought it was needed. _This_ is needed."

"You know that Eliza is gonna freak if she finds out." Nikis declared as they both stared at the pristine Chroma warframe that lay on the table. "One rogue operation was enough to make her scrutinize your whole setup. If she finds out you saved his energy... Let alone what Diana will do." The ancient Nekros' shudder was not feigned in the slightest. He knew what Diana was capable of even now.

"I didn't." Sun retorted. "And you know it. What was I going to say? 'No'?"

"She worked for you." Nikis shook his head. "Did Jon know?"

"If he did, he never said." Sun sounded apprehensive. "Nikis, we need a totally deniable tool."

"Sun, this is a _bad_ idea." The Grandmaster of the Dead replied. "Yes, she says she tore all of the shadows out..."

"I did." A shadowy form coalesced between the Nekros, the Loki Prime and the table on which the Chroma lay. "And no you will not enslave him."

"Margaret..." Sun said softly. "How else can we control him?"

"Watch and learn, Interrogator." The shade commanded. Sun... obeyed. Her tone turned gentle. "Shaun. You awake?"

"Sort of." The tone from the supine warframe was musing. "Am I to be executed now?"

"Not you _too_!" Margaret said sourly. "What _is_ it with you overly testosteroned fools? Even my granddaughter seems to have been corrupted into the whole 'Death before dishonor' mess. I mean... really? If you wait long enough, then everyone is either dishonored or dead. There is no middle ground. Shaun, you know better. We need every Tenno. Now especially."

"I served Gilliananhorisa." Shaun said weakly. He tried to sit up and couldn't. He wasn't restrained, it just seemed he was incapable.

"I know." Margaret said sadly. "When I stripped the shadows from you, I stripped the failsafe too. I didn't mean to, the shadows were too prevalent. I am sorry it hurt so much."

"I... I couldn't fight it..." Shaun sounded in tears and the shade nodded. "I couldn't fight it. They took me over completely and then her and I couldn't fight it."

"I know." Margaret was still sad. "Not your fault, boy. Your boss was a fool for seeking out Stalker. That one is not to be trusted. The war in the shadows is heating up and your boss poured fuel into the fire when she showed him those energy destroying weapons. The _only_ good news is that he cannot use any of the weapons now without her."

"What happened to her?" Shaun begged. "I was... it hurt and I was..."

"Shhh, boy." Margaret said softly. "It is all right. Diana freed her the only way the girl could."

"I see." Shaun slumped a bit. "Then, am I free to swear to another?"

"You are still weak and will be for a bit." Margaret said softly. "But sure. You are a free Tenno now."

"Then I must swear to Diana."

Nikis and Sun stared at each other and then at Margaret who nodded.

"She will not trust you." Margaret said slowly. "She cannot. To her, you are dead. She was told the failsafe activated."

"What?" Shaun asked, confused. Then he nodded. "Oh, yes. I was interrogated. I..." He slumped a bit. "I told Interrogator Sun everything I knew." Shame sounded in his voice.

"If anyone can keep a secret, boy, _Sun_ can." Margaret said mildly and Shaun actually laughed.

"True, but I do owe Diana. A life and my freedom." The Chroma said softly. "What can I do?"

"There is an option, but it is not pleasant. A mindwipe." Margaret said softly. "You will become someone new. With no baggage." Shaun stared at the shade for a moment and then laid back on the table.

"Do it."

* * *

A bit later

"You ain't lost your touch." Nikis actually sounded awed as he and Margaret watched Sun work. "You didn't..." He trailed off as the shade looked at him.

"I didn't influence him, Nikis." Margaret said quietly. "You would have sensed such. I didn't have to. He wanted to do the right thing. He always did. We need every Tenno now and losing him for no gain? That would hurt."

"True." Nikis admitted. "So... who gets to tell Eliza 'bout this?"

"Shaun is dead." Margaret said with a smile that turned into a smirk. " _Who_ is the Caretaker of the Dead?"

"Geez, woman. You were evil when you led Intelligence. Now you are _worse_."

"Duh."


End file.
